BGC Broker in Racism Case Says Joking in E-Mails Cut Stress
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A BGC Partners Inc. broker accused of sending racist e-mails said “inappropriate” messages are a typical part of life on London’s trading desks as under-pressure workers attempt to lighten the mood.
Boris Lefebvre, a manager accused of depicting former BGC broker Ramesh Kumaran as Apu from the cartoon “The Simpsons” in messages, said that Kumaran “participated in sending this type of e-mail to the desk” and reacted with “amusement and laughter.” Lefebvre made the comments in a witness statement submitted to a London employment tribunal.