J.P. Morgan to Halt Free Lunch Policy

Now there really is no free lunch-at least not at J.P. Morgan & Co.

The banking company, which has given its 1,500 Manhattan employees a free midday meal for as long as anybody can remember, will discontinue the practice this fall, said Joe Evangelista, Morgan's head of public relations.

"It's true," Mr. Evangelista said last week. "The free lunch was only in our Manhattan office. We are just bringing them in line with the rest of our offices around the world."

Mr. Evangelista would not say how much the company would save by eliminating the lunches, but Morgan has suffered financial difficulties recently. Profits are off, Standard & Poor's stripped the company of its prized AAA credit rating, and the company announced a 5% staff cut.

Mr. Evangelista was unsure when the long-standing free lunch tradition began.

Morgan's employees got the news by e-mail in February.

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