International bank boss fired over accusations of 'emotional terrorism' against junior staff sues for $4m

• Omar Alami was fired from BNP Paribas for alleged treatment of colleagues that included "emotional terrorism."
• He denies the charges and says he was never "insulting or aggressive."

A BNP Paribas manager who was fired after being accused of "emotional terrorism" by other employees is suing the French bank for $4 million for unfairly dismissing him, reports say.

Omar Alami was sacked in 2019 after he was accused of calling a trader "useless" and "incompetent" in front of colleagues over a potential $872,000 mistake, Bloomberg reported. The error that caused Alami's alleged outburst turned out to be a false alarm, BNP lawyer Aurelie Fournier told a tribunal, in Paris.

In an internal report, other employees accused Alami of "emotional terrorism" and behavior that left them with "a feeling of waterboarding," Fournier said at a hearing at the Paris employment tribunal last week, per Bloomberg.

He was then fired from his position as head of BNP's equity derivatives sales for Switzerland, Belgium, and Luxembourg, where he was earning $1.3 million a year, according to the outlet.

Alami admitted to the tribunal that his response to the trader "was lively," according to Bloomberg, but claimed: "I was never humiliating, I was never insulting or aggressive."

He added that the complaints about him in the internal report were anonymous and difficult for him to counter.

BNP lawyer Fournier said at the hearing that the bank had noticed issues about Alami's communication style and had paid for coaching lessons for him, Bloomberg reported.

However, she said that the bank had not realized the extent of the issue until people complained.

"It's quite rare for people on trading floors to speak up," Fournier said at the Paris employment tribunal, according to Bloomberg.

She added that the trader who first alleged that Alami verbally attacked him had to be put on sick leave for two weeks after the incident and came into the office in tears.

Although Alami, who lives in Paris, found another job within a year of his dismissal, he said he earns 60% less and spends 60% less time with his family as the job is in Switzerland rather than France, per Bloomberg.

A BNP Paribas spokesman told The Telegraph that the bank "does not tolerate behavior contrary to the respect and dignity of the individual, at all levels of the organization."

A ruling in the case is expected on May 17.