(April 30 – 17:40 ET) – A former executive from the New York office of CIBC Word Markets is suing the company for wrongful dismissal. Richard Kelly, 43, claims he was fired because of his HIV-positive status according to the Investment News.

The case echoes the one fought by Montreal broker DeWolf Shaw against First Marathon Ltd. The paper says Kelly is suing CIBC World Markets for US$75 million.

Kelly worked for CIBC Oppenheimer, the private-client division of CIBC World Markets. He filed suit in March. The paper says Kelly is represented by New York attorney Benedict Morelli.

Morelli also represented Christian Curry, a former junior analyst at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. in New York, back in 1998. Curry settled with MSDW after he launched a suit claiming that he was fired because of his race and because nude pictures of him were published in a gay magazine. MSDW claimed it fired Curry because he filed fraudulent expense reports.

Kelly’s suit claims that he joined predecessor firm Oppenheimer & Co. in March 1997 to handle high-profile arbitrations, hire and train junior attorneys, and assist then director of litigation, Mark Kaplan. Kelly’s HIV status was revealed in September 1999, and he says after that he was subjected to discriminatory and retaliatory actions that led to his firing in January 2000.

Kaplan, now general counsel for CIBC World Markets, says the company has yet to respond to the lawsuit. “Our position is, we disagree completely with his version of events and look forward to having these allegations aired in open court.”