EX-BNP PARIBAS MD SUES AFTER ALLEGEDLY BEING FIRED OVER RELIGIOUS BELIEFS

He claims that he was terminated for his religious beliefs after complaining about Nazi imagery in a training video.

An Orthodox Jew who was fired from his position as a Managing Director at BNP Paribas North America has sued the firm, saying he was terminated for his religious beliefs after complaining about Nazi imagery in a training video.

Reuters reports that the lawsuit was filed in Manhattan federal court by Jean-Marc Orlando, an Orthodox Jew who said he had worked for the bank for 18 years until he was terminated in May 2012. Orlando was a Managing Director in the bank's fixed-income division in New York, and had previously worked for the bank in France, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit alleges that the company eventually fired Orlando from the New York office in a retaliatory move after he complained about a training video he and other managers were shown during a training session in Amsterdam in 2011.

The video, created by BNP employees, was a parody of the 2004 film Downfall, which depicted the final days of Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime in Germany, the lawsuit said. The film portrayed the head of BNP competitor Deutsche Bank as Hitler, the lawsuit said.

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Ex-director sues BNP Paribas NA, says he was fired over religion