Opportunism at its lowest.

June 26, 2002 1:12 PM

Opportunism at its lowest. A lawsuit filed by Cantor Fitzgerald (who occupied several upper floors of the WTC and was totally devestated by 9/11) alleges that a rival firm, Garban Intercapital Management, conspired to hire away key brokers in the wake of the attack. Mmmm.... classy.
posted by mkultra (6 comments total)

Icap's goal, Hillier contended, was not just to hire the top brokers, but to "damage Cantor."

That huge gaping hole where Cantor's offices used to be looks like enough damage already, doesn't it?
posted by matteo at 1:38 PM on June 26, 2002

I'm inclined to believe ICap's statement, quoted in the article:

"The events of Sept. 11 in New York - as horrific as they were - bear no relation whatsoever to the decision by a number of Cantor Fitzgerald's London brokers to resign . . .

"The employees in this case were disaffected. To suggest that hiring three staff from Cantor post-Sept. 11 was purely designed to inflict further damage on Cantor . . . is preposterous."

Although, I'm also inclined to believe that the NY Post is a pretty crappy paper.
posted by UnReality at 1:58 PM on June 26, 2002

The NY Post is a terrible paper, but the emails cited in the article (via the lawsuit) are pretty damning.
posted by mkultra at 2:18 PM on June 26, 2002

I'm not sure I see what in those emails isn't consistent with Icap's position that the brokers in question were about to jump anyway ("I've been waiting for this sort of opportunity..." could refer just as easily to a condition in which employees were disaffected as it could to a condition in which the CF office had been obliterated). But then, I don't know much about the law in question against poaching, or even what the boundary for legal behavior is. (NYPost, I appreciate your telling us these things.)

I do know these sorts of suits were pervasive in the tech industry (or at least the part of it I was in) a couple years ago; in that case it seemed to stem partly from the massive referral bonuses being paid out to employees who recommended hirable candidates.
posted by tingley at 3:13 PM on June 26, 2002

The quote I cite in the parenthetical doesn't appear in the article; it was my best attempt to recreate this real quote from memory: "This is the time I have been waiting for . . ."
posted by tingley at 3:15 PM on June 26, 2002

It's not exactly clear to me why it was ok for Cantor-Fitzgerald to use 9/11 for it's own business purposes (ie the pathetic television commercials it aired recently), but when another miserable firm tries to take advantage of same (if the allegations are true), Cantor-Fitzgerald howls.

Oh well...business/doublethink as usual...
posted by fold_and_mutilate at 11:08 PM on June 26, 2002