Jes Staley, the former Barclays boss, has been accused of whining by the judge overseeing lawsuits that relate to his relationship with the late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Staley launched a bid to separate a lawsuit filed against him by JPMorgan from two cases against the bank, which alleged the Wall Street giant knowingly benefited from Epstein’s sex trafficking.
The bank is also trying to retrieve more than US$80mln of compensation from Staley to make the 66-year-old pay for any costs it incurred due to his supposed relationship with Epstein.
JPMorgan is facing two class action suits, one filed by a victim of Epstein, and one brought by the US Virgin Islands.
Claims against the bank both argue that Staley’s relationship with Epstein proves that JPMorgan knew about the sex trafficking, although neither names Staley as a defendant.
According to The Telegraph, Staley, who left Barclays in November 2021, asked for the trial date to be delayed until next March to better prepare his defence.
US District Judge, Jed Rakoff, rejected the bid, adding that: “None of Staley’s whines remotely warrants either a severance or a change in the joint trial date.”
The joint trial is expected to go ahead on October 23, although the judge did grant Staley seven more weeks for discovery.
In his first legal filings last week, Mr Staley described the allegations against him as “slanderous and baseless”.