Franklin Templeton has filed a motion to dismiss the wrongful termination lawsuit brought by by its former portfolio manager Amy Cooper.
The firm fired Cooper, who is white, a day after she called 911 in May 2020 to report an "African American man … threatening [her] life" when the man, birdwatcher Christian Cooper (no relation), videotaped her in Central Park after she failed to leash her dog as required by park rules. The video went viral.
Cooper apologized later that day and the next for making "false assumptions" about Mr. Cooper's intention and admitted that she "was the one who was acting inappropriately" by not having her dog on a leash.
Franklin Templeton said it fired the 40-year-old portfolio manager following an internal review because it did "not tolerate racism of any kind."
Cooper was subsequently charged by the Manhattan District Attorney's office for filing a false police report. Those charges were eventually dropped after she completed a counseling program, but in May of this year Cooper filed a lawsuit in federal district court for the Southern District of New York, claiming that Franklin Templeton had discriminated against her because of her race and gender.
