While you were registered as a Registered Representative of the bank you were obligated to disclose your outside business activities. By law, each year your firm provides a written questionnaire, you complete the document, one of the core sections revolves around representatives outside business activities, any outside boards of directorships, both private and charitable, etc. Any ownership stakes in businesses, roles as an officer or director. Failure to disclose is looked upon very seriously. I find it hard to believe the bank/broker did not provide the Outside Business Activities Disclosure document to you at the time of your hiring, and at the annual Compliance meeting. The document is required to be signed by you and kept in your personal file. It is one of the audit elements/documents viewed by the NASD Auditor when the conduct an annual audit. You could have taken the site down bro, and if it was hosted and visible whether you made money on it or not isn't the point. If you failed to disclose the OBA then your done. BTW, have you aver heard a lawyer tell anyone they DONT have a case against a brokerage firm prior to snagging a retainer check from a litigant? At best perhaps the Compliance Officer will U5 you with a involuntary, at worse you'll need to explain it to any potential employers.
Check the NASD Manual under the following...NASD Rule 3030 - Outside Business Activities of an Associated Person http://www.nasd.com/RulesRegulation.htm
Llike I said the business was disclosed on my resume. I did not have any business when I worked at the bank
Man, just talk to a real attorney. If you have a strong case, he'll be all over it like a maggot on stale meat.
I suggest moving on and letting this go, hard as it may be to swallow. Having sued a former employer is much worse than being fired. It doesn't sound like a very strong case, and you could end up with nothing or a "nuisance" settlement. Either way - there's another black mark on your record. Who wants to hire an employee who sued their last employer? FC
This sounds weird to me. Most top-tier IBs would ask you to have the site shut down once employment commenced (also no unauthorised trading). In addition, it is not unheard of for the same IBs to verify your more 'minor' details well after the given probationary period. I am aware of some dude that was fired from a top-tier IB for lying about their O-levels (in the UK). Funny thing is that he was actually good at his job and had been there for about 2 years - their take was if he lied about this, then... etc... etc... We concluded at the time that someone must have known about this and informed the compliance dudes - for what reason I do not know - he was a likeable guy. I know your situation is different, but how did this lady get a hold of your details? You say you disclosed your website info during interviews. Maybe she was conducting an independent investigation as you were a new hire, and your name came up. Anyways, the best advice is to see a lawyer and stop disclosing any further details to the public...
Wow this is a tough situation. The fact that the sites were still online, regardless of what was on your resume or said during your interview, is going to hurt your case. Why was there no disclosure documentation with the compliance department? I've worked in compliance with a big-4, to say it's a serious issue is a grave understatement. Those sites should have been on the books at the compliance dept. day one. You only have a case if you can prove damages, period. If the lack of compliance documentation regarding your businesses (defunct or not) was the employer's fault, AND they libeled you on the U5, then you might have a case. Are full legal history screenings a standard hiring review practice these days? They probably are, I'm just curious.