A victim of deceased sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein accused J.P Morgan Chase of trying to “harass and intimidate” her and other victims by including former J.P. Morgan executive and alleged abuser Jes Staley in her lawsuit.
Jane Doe is suing J.P. Morgan for allegedly facilitating Epstein’s sex trafficking operation when she was a client with the bank for nearly 15 years. She described Staley as a “powerful financial executive” in her Nov. 2022 complaint and declined to name him “out of fear.” (RELATED: JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank Must Face Lawsuits For Allegedly Enabling Jeffrey Epstein, Judge Rules)
Jes Staley called allegations about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein “slanderous and baseless” https://t.co/WBGgB287z9 via @business
— Mike Shepard (@MikeShepard4) April 7, 2023
“The effect of adding him to the suit is to force her to share private medical records and her most intimate communications with one of her abusers,” Doe’s attorney Brad Edwards wrote in a letter filed Thursday, according to the Daily Beast. “It also sends a message to other victims that JPM will exploit all vulnerabilities of each victim who dares come forward to hold the bank accountable.”
“Accordingly, Jane Doe 1 seeks severance of her sexual abuser from her lawsuit so that JPM cannot force Staley back into her life,” Edwards’ letter adds.
Staley filed a letter of his own on Thursday, also asking for the bank’s claims against him to be separated from the victim’s lawsuit. His lawyer described his alleged ties to Epstein as “baseless but serious” and “slanderous” in a Thursday court filing, per The Guardian.
J.P. Morgan revealed Staley’s identity when the bank filed a lawsuit against Staley in March to make him responsible for potential payouts from lawsuits related to Epstein. The U.S. Virgin Islands filed a similar lawsuit against the bank in December for turning “a blind eye” to Epstein’s criminal operation.
Staley was “inextricably linked to these cases” that “it [made] no sense to separate him” from the bank’s own suit with the alleged victim, a spokesman for the bank said according to The Guardian.
More than 1,000 emails between Staley and Epstein from 2008-12 were disclosed as part of a February court filing from the U.S. Virgin Islands.