(Bloomberg) -- Marius Caracota, the former Mizuho Bank Ltd. executive fired for taking a chain guard from a colleague's bicycle, lost a lawsuit over his dismissal.
Caracota said at a London tribunal hearing last week that the bike incident was a “convenient way” to get rid of him after he complained about bullying and potential regulatory breaches. He'd taken the bike accessory, worth about five pounds ($6.60) when new, because he thought it was his own, he said.
“We are pleased to confirm that the tribunal voted unanimously in the bank's favor on this matter,” a Mizuho spokeswoman said.
The outcome of the employment suit is “very disheartening,” Caracota said by email. He said he took the chain guard knowing he was under CCTV surveillance.
“No one on my then-substantial salary, with my unblemished employment record and many proven instances of public spirited conduct, would take anything if they thought for one moment that it wasn't theirs in the first place,” he said. “Add to that the value being less than five pounds and the allegation of theft simply lacked any plausible motive.”
The bank's head of legal and compliance, Simon Miller, told the court during last week's hearing that taking the chain guard from a colleague's bike “amounted to gross misconduct.” He described the incident as “stealing from a colleague.”
Firing Caracota was the right approach even though the item was cheap, because bankers should have a “strong moral compass,” he said in court filings.
The tribunal hasn't yet published written reasons for its finding. The hearing had a “David and Goliath feel to it,” Caracota said, as he didn't have a lawyer but the bank did. The case was “all in all disproportionate and disappointing on many levels, for me potentially career ending and an extravagant use of shareholder money by the bank,” he said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Kaye Wiggins in London at kwiggins4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anthony Aarons at aaarons@bloomberg.net, Christopher Elser
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