The dismissal of a Credit Suisse executive in Geneva was not abusive
The Federal Court dismissed the appeal of an executive from the bank’s North America department who contested his dismissal.
AFP
The Federal Court dismisses a former Credit Suisse executive who contested his dismissal. The man ran the Geneva office of the North America department between the mid-1990s and 2011. In this capacity, he participated in operations aimed at retaining and increasing the American clientele despite the ever stricter rules implemented. by Washington in order to fight tax evasion.
The man was indicted in February 2011 by a US court for conspiring against the United States. He was accused of having met clients across the Atlantic, of having telephoned them to discuss their undeclared accounts or of having recommended that they transfer their assets in order to circumvent American taxes.
Credit Suisse immediately released him from his obligation to work but paid him until his dismissal at the end of August 2014. In the following months, the bank terminated all its relations (accounts, loans, mortgages) with his ex- employee. These measures were the result of an agreement with the New York State Department of Finance. On the other hand, the establishment covered the costs of the trial in the United States, which amounted to nearly 420,000 francs and 1.3 million dollars.
Heavy allowances
In 2015, the former executive brought the bank before the Labor Court of Geneva and claimed approximately 280,000 francs for unfair dismissal, 200,000 francs for moral damages and 6.8 million dollars for his expenses. upcoming trial in the United States. The court awarded him 260,000 francs for the first reason and 20,000 francs for the second.
This judgment was overturned by the Geneva Court of Justice, which found that the former executive and his team had repeatedly violated US laws and the bank’s internal guidelines. Admittedly, his superior, the head of the North America department, had also committed shortcomings, in particular by modifying travel reports before communicating them above. However, Credit Suisse could not be blamed for inciting its employees to violate the rules.
In a judgment published on Monday, the Federal Court agrees with the position of the Geneva courts. He considers that the Appellant has not demonstrated that the two hierarchical levels above him were aware of the practices of the department to evade the rules of the American tax authorities.
Inconclusive confessions
Similarly, Credit Suisse’s admissions to the US authorities do not establish its direct responsibility, as the bank only incriminated certain employees who had not complied with the law. And this even if the Americans – and the Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) – have also criticized the insufficient control exercised over employees as well as the performance objectives and bonus remuneration which could encourage them to cross the line. red.
For the Mon-Repos judges, their Geneva colleagues made no secret of the role of the head of the North America department, who advised lying about the purpose of stays across the Atlantic or traveling on weekends in order to make people believe to vacation.
It is obvious that if this superior had enforced the directives in force, the Appellant would certainly not have carried out operations contrary to American law. However, the latter was not a “simple subordinate at the bottom of the hierarchical ladder” but rather a “senior executive broken in the system and endowed with vast experience”, underlines the 1re Court of Civil Law.
As such, he was able to understand that the instructions of the head of the North America department contravened bank regulations and US laws. The judges recognize that a communication of these facts to the review service could expose the appellant to a drop in income.
But the man was warned of the risks, and if his “faculty of judgment has been clouded for so long”, it is because he was reaping a financial advantage. Under these conditions, the fault of the bank – through the intermediary of the head of department – is not such that it relegates his own to the background.
ATS
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