By Chris Dolmetsch
(Bloomberg) --A former Morgan Stanley wealth manager sued the bank saying he was terminated following a "campaign of harassment," even after the settlement a decade ago of a class-action discrimination lawsuit.
The suit was filed in federal court in New York by John Lockette, an African-American man from New Jersey who worked at Morgan Stanley as an assistant vice president in its wealth management division in 2013 until he was fired in August 2016. Lockette says the reforms obtained by the settlements of class-action suits have "utterly failed" and that the company’s discriminatory policies and practices continue.
"Morgan Stanley has no genuine intent to reform, to provide equal opportunities to African-Americans, or to abide by the spirit of its agreement" to settle the racial discrimination claims, Lockette says in his suit.
Spokeswoman Christy Jockle said “Morgan Stanley denies the allegations in the complaint. The firm is strongly committed to nondiscrimination, and looks forward to addressing this former employee’s claims on the merits.”
The bank agreed in 2007 to pay $16 million to settle claims that branch managers steered new and existing accounts to white male brokers, depriving black and Latino financial advisers in its global wealth management group the opportunity to earn commissions and promotions.
To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Dolmetsch in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan at [email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at [email protected] Paul Cox
