Sharkey v. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.

805 F. Supp. 2d 45, 32 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 1722, 2011 CCH OSHD 33,145, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 92953, 94 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 44,254, 2011 WL 3663401
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedAugust 19, 2011
DocketNo. 10 Civ. 3824
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 805 F. Supp. 2d 45 (Sharkey v. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sharkey v. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., 805 F. Supp. 2d 45, 32 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 1722, 2011 CCH OSHD 33,145, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 92953, 94 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 44,254, 2011 WL 3663401 (S.D.N.Y. 2011).

Opinion

OPINION

SWEET, District Judge.

Defendants J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (“JPMC”), Joe Kenney (“Kenney”), Adam Green (“Green”) and Leslie Lassiter (“Lassiter”) (collectively, “Defendants”) have moved pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6), to dismiss the Amended Complaint dated February 3, 2011 (the “AC”), filed by Plaintiff Jennifer Sharkey (“Plaintiff’ or “Sharkey”). Based on the conclusions set forth below, Defendants’ motion to dismiss is denied.

Prior Proceedings

On October 22, 2009, Sharkey filed a timely complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor (“OSHA”) alleging violations of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, 18 U.S.C. § 1514A (“Sarbanes-Oxley” or “SOX”). On or about April 12, 2010, OSHA issued its findings and preliminary order dismissing her complaint. Sharkey filed her complaint with this court on May 10, 2010, alleging claims under SOX.

The Defendants moved to dismiss the complaint. The Opinion and Order dated January 14, 2011 of this court (the “January 14 Order”) held that Sharkey engaged in a protected activity under SOX when reporting with respect to a third party, the Suspect Client, but that the illegal activity reported was not adequately alleged in the original complaint. Sharkey, 2011 WL 135026, at *4-8. Plaintiffs state law breach of contract claim was dismissed with prejudice, and Sharkey was granted [48]*48leave to replead her SOX claims. Sharkey filed the AC on February 14, 2011.

The AC alleges multiple occasions on which Plaintiff reported her concerns of fraudulent and illegal activity on the part of the Suspect Client to one or more of the Defendants. (AC ¶¶ 1, 17, 20, 26, 39, 40-41, 43-44.) The AC contains twelve paragraphs alleging that Sharkey believed the Suspect Client was violating one or more of the enumerated SOX statutes in addition to money laundering (AC ¶¶ 1, 17, 20, 26-27, 36-38, 43-44, 52, 57), and thirty paragraphs and subparagraphs outlining the factual basis that that gave rise to that belief (AC 1TO25.a-25.g, 27.a-27.q., 28-37).

The Defendants filed the instant motion on the grounds that (1) this court lacks jurisdiction because the newly pled allegations in the AC were not contained in Sharkey’s OSHA complaint, (2) while the AC contains additional factual allegations regarding the purported suspicious activities of JPMC’s client, it fails to state with any level of specificity what it is she allegedly reported to JPMC supervisors that constituted whistleblowing, (3) the AC does not meet the pleading requirements of Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) and Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) because Sharkey still does not identify which statute enumerated in SOX she believes JPMC’s client violated, and (4) the AC fails to allege that Defendants knew or should have known that she engaged in protected activity because the AC fails to disclose which purported communications or disclosures constituted her alleged whistleblowing.

Defendants’ motion was marked fully submitted on March 30, 2011.

Facts Alleged

Knowledge of the general facts of this case and the prior proceedings is assumed. The following allegations are drawn from the Amended Complaint unless otherwise noted.

Shortly after Sharkey was assigned to the Suspect Client’s account, members of J.P. Morgan’s compliance and risk management team contacted her to express concerns regarding the Suspect Client’s alleged involvement in illegal activities, including mail fraud, bank fraud and money laundering. (AC ¶ 20.) Around the same time in the first half of 2009, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury conducted an audit of J.P. Morgan’s Northeast Region’s Private Wealth Management group and J.P. Morgan’s compliance with Know Your Customer (‘KYC’)1 requirements. (Id. ¶ 20.) The AC alleges that upon information and belief, “OCC’s investigation and audit was focused in great part on the Suspect Client, several Private Wealth Management accounts that the Suspect Client created, and J.P. Morgan’s compliance-or lack thereof-with respect to KYC requirements on these accounts.” (Id. ¶ 21-22).

Sharkey alleges that she learned that the Suspect Client “should not have opened an account under Private Wealth Management, where oversight is less stringent” as he had (id. ¶ 23a), and that “[pjrior attempts by others to ensure compliance with KYC requirements for the Suspect Client were either never completed or met with avoidance and/or obfuscation.” (Id. ¶ 23c.) Sharkey could not de[49]*49termine the source of the Suspect Client’s wealth, “which combined with the fact that most of his accounts and/or businesses involved a heavy cash flow, raised serious concerns of potential money laundering.” (Id. ¶ 23e.) Sharkey was further aware of “allegations that the Suspect Client, through a prior corporation, was involved in the unexplained disappearance of millions of dollars of the product that was the basis for his purported legitimate business.” (Id. ¶ 23f.) The Suspect Client had financial ledgers that did not correspond with the company’s financial statements, and he purchased products from a company controlled by one or more of his brothers (also signatories on various Suspect Client accounts), at high prices in undocumented transactions, transferring and advancing funds and products to this company without collecting for long periods. (Id.)

The AC alleges that Plaintiff “believed that the Suspect Client was engaging in fraud, money laundering, mail fraud, bank fraud, and/or federal securities laws violations, based on” based upon the following allegations:

• The Suspect Client, when he would provide requested documentation, would use unusual or suspicious identification documents that could not be readily verified, such as foreign passports or documents in foreign languages. (Id. ¶ 27a.)
• The Suspect Client refused to provide complete information about the nature and purpose of its business, anticipated account activity, prior banking relationships, the names of its officers and directors, or information on its business locations, or tax returns. (Id. ¶ 27b.)
• The Suspect Client would make frequent or large transactions with no record of past or present employment experience. (M ¶ 27c.)
• Some of the Suspect Client’s accounts, at times, acted as a trust or shell company, and the Suspect Client was reluctant to provide information on controlling parties and/or signatories on these accounts. (Id. ¶ 27d.)
• The Suspect Client either refused or was reluctant to provide Plaintiff with information needed to complete the mandatory KYC report. (Id. ¶ 27e.)
• Funds transfer activities in the Suspect Client’s accounts were unexplained, repetitive, and/or would show unusual patterns.

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805 F. Supp. 2d 45, 32 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 1722, 2011 CCH OSHD 33,145, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 92953, 94 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 44,254, 2011 WL 3663401, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sharkey-v-jp-morgan-chase-co-nysd-2011.