Most of the attention on hedge funds has focused on the enormous amount of money the funds control–outside any regulation. But, turns out hedge funds are no different than other employers when it comes to treating their workers. Today’s Wall Street Journal has a story that describes a number of employment lawsuits (surprise, hedge funds are not unionized):

Hedge-Fund Traders’
New Battle: the Boss

As Assets Soar, So Do
Employment Lawsuits,
Just Like Widget Firms

By ANITA RAGHAVAN and PETER LATTMAN

Hedge-fund managers are known for their rough-and-tumble trading style. They’re also getting feisty about fighting employment disputes.

That’s what Harry Cohen found out when he sued hedge fund NorOdin Investment Management LP in a Connecticut federal court in July. The portfolio manager alleged that he was unfairly fired and denied part of his bonus for two years.

NorOdin fired back, claiming in an answer to the lawsuit that Mr. Cohen was sacked because of “egregious misuse” of a company laptop computer. The fund said it found data on the computer regarding Mr. Cohen’s former hedge-fund employer, including scanned personal documents of its employees such as passports, credit cards and work permits. (Read NorOdin’s answer to the complaint.)

To be clear, the lawsuits described in the story were not brought by the janitor or the secretary but by well-compensated members of the hedge fund. But, it’s kind of interesting that employment-at-will doctrines are being tested even in this secretive industry.