J.P. Morgan fired an employee over a $642 deli platter. Now it owes him $4.25 million

It took nearly two decades for Brent Ryan Bodner to build his career at J.P. Morgan. It took a deli platter to end it.In 2024, Bodner was fired from the bank after charging a $624.50 food order to his employer. While the firm claimed the order was for a personal Super Bowl party, Bodner countered, noting that it was for a preapproved business meeting held at his home, People reported. “It was not a Super Bowl party,” said Marc Seldin Rosen, Bodner’s attorney, according to the New York Post. “They tried to mischaracterize it as a Super Bowl party on their nickel to disparage him.” The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) just sided with Bodner. Last week, FINRA determined that the firm must pay its former employee $4.25 million in damages, with a 10 percent annual interest rate from the date of service until the award is fully paid. Additionally, J.P. Morgan was ordered to reimburse Bodner’s $800 filing fee. FINRA recommended expunging his termination record and revising the reason for his departure to “voluntary.” A long career at JP Morgan Bodner began his brokerage career at Merrill Lynch in 2000 before moving to Mutual of Omaha Investor Services. He later joined Chase Investment Services—a J.P. Morgan predecessor. Prior to his departure from J.P. Morgan, he was a managing director and private client adviser for the bank. Bodner initially sought $15 million in compensatory damages and another $15 million in punitive damages. His case was heard before a three-member FINRA panel in Los Angeles across multiple sessions in March and April. Bodner also alleged that J.P. Morgan had already decided to let him go before its own internal investigation was complete. Rosen pointed to an internal message suggesting the firm feared Bodner would walk and take his clients with him, leading J.P. Morgan to quietly assemble a team to divide up his book of business before he had even sat down for an interview. Following the ruling, Rosen told People he was not surprised b