A former Bank of Montreal employee is suing the bank for whistleblower retaliation and wrongful termination, claiming he was fired for reporting his concern that the bank was intentionally overcharging clients who used a foreign-exchange product.
Todd Saran, who helped U.S. businesses use BMO's FX transaction portal, began flagging the product for consistently underquoting clients in May 2022, according to his complaint, filed Tuesday in California's Contra Costa County Superior Court. Just over a year later — about one-third of which he spent on parental leave — the bank gave Saran a 60-day notice of termination.
Bernard Alexander, an employment litigation lawyer who is representing Saran, said in an interview that there weren't any performance-related reasons to terminate his client.
"There's no question that our client was fired because he was persistent in saying, 'Hey, look, you've got to address this,'" Alexander said. "He was making the bank lots of money in the position, and suddenly they don't want him. There's no logical reason for them not wanting him other than the fact that he was a whistleblower."
Toronto-based BMO expanded its U.S. footprint by acquiring Bank of the West in January 2023. Saran, who was originally hired by Bank of the West while the transaction was still pending, alleges that he was assured his job was safe from merger-related layoffs.
"BMO denies these allegations and looks forward to presenting the facts of this matter," said Scott Doll, a media relations manager for the bank, in an email. "As this matter is before the courts, we have no further comment at this time."
Alexander said the problems Saran believes to exist within the bank's FX portal — called "Treasury Now" — make "a profit center" for BMO.
The suit claims that when customers were scheduling orders, they were quoted at a rate with a specific margin charge, but when the transactions went through, they "invariably [included] a different higher margin charge." The bank pointed to market movement as the explanation, but the complaint alleges that "the margin charge should never move."
"The 'Treasury Now' platform, by design, overcharged bank customers," the complaint said.
Whistleblowers are not required to prove that their claims of fraud or malpractice are true, just that their claims led to negative actions by their employers. Employees are protected from retribution if they report information they believe to be noncompliant or in violation of law.
Protections for whistleblowers have recently made strides in courts and at government agencies. In February, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Swiss megabank
On the agency side, the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
BMO hasn't faced public scrutiny of its Treasury Now product, but Alexander said there's still room to pin down the truth in Saran's claims.
"All the customers that have used [the platform], that is a class action waiting to happen," Alexander said. "I don't know who those customers are, but they're out there. And there's no reason for them not to make an inquiry, and make the bank prove different.
In addition to the whistleblower retaliation and wrongful termination claims, Saran alleges that the bank defamed him by maliciously making negative statements about his job performance that weren't true.
Saran's wife, Mayara Saran, is also a plaintiff in the case, alleging that BMO caused "loss of consortium," as her husband was "emotionally and physically unavailable" during and after the birth of their child due to the bank's actions.
The plaintiffs are seeking at least $2 million in damages from the bank. Alexander said he had hoped to come to a resolution before filing the lawsuit, but the bank's attorneys were "dragging their feet."
"Now that we have the lawsuit, it's about getting as much information as we can in order to prepare for trial," Alexander said.
