Fired Rep Says Wells Fargo Added Fake Investigations to His U5: Lawsuit

News June 29, 2023 at 04:32 PM
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Wells Fargo found itself the target of another racial discrimination complaint by an ex-rep on Monday, this time a Black advisor who alleges the firm terminated him and then amended his Form U5 to falsely claim he was under investigation at the time he was fired.

In a complaint filed Monday in St. Joseph Superior Court in St. Joseph County, Indiana, Steven McClatchey of Niles, Michigan, claimed the wirehouse, through its supervisors and staff, retaliated against him after he reported allegations of discrimination at work.

Wells Fargo declined to comment on the complaint on Thursday.

In the complaint, McClatchey described himself as the "only black licensed financial advisor in his area" at Wells Fargo Advisors.

He complained to his supervisor and other employees about the "racial disparity he encountered" while employed by the wirehouse and he was told to work out the issues on his own, according to the complaint.

McClatchey was fired by the firm in late May 2021, according to the complaint, which alleged there was no mention of him being under investigation by the firm in the Form U5 originally filed on June 1, 2021. After he filed charges of discrimination, however, his Form U5 was revised and refiled on June 16, 2021, this time claiming he was the subject of two internal investigations.

The plaintiff is seeking unspecified compensatory, exemplary and punitive damages, along with a judgment for lost wages, past and future, and a jury trial.

Only a few days earlier, two white former Wells Fargo Advisors brokers and managers over 60 years old sued their former firm, alleging they were fired last year due to age and racial discrimination by the company.

Photo: Bloomberg

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