Ex-Citi London forex trader welcomes unfair dismissal ruling

(Reuters) - A former top currency trader has won an unfair dismissal case against Citigroup Inc, but cannot expect to return to his job after the London employment tribunal ruling, the Financial Times reported.

Rohan Ramchandani, the former European head of Citigroup's forex spot market trading desk, alleged in a lawsuit in October that the bank unfairly dismissed him without due process or warning.

Ramchandani had sued Citigroup for more than $112 million, alleging that it made materially false and malicious statements to U.S. prosecutors that led to his trial in New York on foreign exchange-rigging charges.

"I am pleased that the tribunal has not only found that I was unfairly dismissed but that Citi acted unreasonably and so has awarded me the maximum uplift for such conduct. The tribunal also accepted my genuine belief that my chats were not improper," Ramchandani said in an email sent to Reuters.

Monday's FT report said Ramchandani's tribunal compensation would be automatically capped at around 74,000 pounds ($96,732.80) - a fraction of the 1 million pounds he earned each year - but the exact amount was yet to be determined.

He was seeking reinstatement, which would have made him eligible to receive back pay and any other awards.

However, employment judge Alison Russell said giving him his job back was not practicable as Citi had proved in the tribunal that he was dismissed due to his conduct, the FT reported.

"Citi had already acknowledged that Mr. Ramchandani's dismissal did not follow our usual procedures, so this aspect of the judgment is not a surprise," Citigroup said in an emailed statement.

($1 = 0.7650 pounds)

(Reporting by Manojna Maddipatla in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Alexander Smith)