Stockbroker Awarded Millions After Being Terminated For Army Reserve Duty

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A stockbroker was awarded several million dollars in a wrongful termination lawsuit after a court determined that he was retaliated against for going on reserve duty.

A financial industry regulatory panel ruled Friday that Goldman Sachs must pay Chris Barra, a West Point graduate and lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserves, and his partner, Luis Sampedro, $7.6 million.

Barra and Sampedro worked as a team at Goldman Sachs Los Angeles for nine years until 2007 when they were fired.

The panel found not only wrongful termination, but discrimination against military personnel, because Barra was "chastised and retaliated" against by the LA offices' Branch Manager because he went on reserve duty.

The attorney for Barra and Sampedro said the ruling should be a warning to companies that you cannot treat members of the military any differently than any other employee.

Barra and Sampedro, who filed the wrongful termination suit in 2010, now work for a unit of UBS AG.