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Regulation and Compliance > Litigation

Fired BNY Advisor Claims Age Discrimination

By Dinah Wisenberg Brin

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What You Need to Know

  • The advisor alleges a manager made ageist remarks and dismissed him despite his consistently strong performance.
  • A manager's three oldest direct reports were dismissed on the same day, the lawsuit says.
  • The company told news media that it planned to lay off 1,500 workers while investing in young talent.

A longtime Bank of New York financial advisor has accused the institution of age discrimination in firing him, denying him an annual bonus and downgrading his performance rating.

Timothy Barker, 67, a managing director and family wealth investment advisor at BNY for more than 12 years, alleges in a lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in New York that the financial services giant violated federal, state and New York City age-discrimination laws.

“A stellar performer, he often ranked at or near the top of all (family wealth investment advisors) nationwide as to a number of performance metrics and serviced some of BNY’s largest and most complex clients,” the complaint contends.

But when Barker was 65 — ”after one of his supervisors began making ageist comments about another employee in his mid-sixties” — BNY began treating him “differently, and worse,” than much younger FWIAs, the suit contends.

The bank then downgraded Barker’s performance rating, denied him an annual bonus, and in 2023 terminated his employment because of his age, he contends.

In July, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued Barker a reasonable-cause finding and right-to-sue notice, according to the lawsuit.

Barker, an investment professional and attorney, provided tax, financial planning and investment advice to high-net-worth individuals and families for more than 40 years, his lawsuit says.

Before joining BNY in 2011, he worked as a senior investment advisor at US Trust Company, First Republic Bank and Ayco/Goldman Sachs, according to the suit.

At BNY, Barker analyzed and provided asset allocation and portfolio recommendations to individual, family, endowment and charitable trust clients with more than $20 million in assets under management, including some of the largest and most complex clients, he contends.

Barker, who served on BNY’s private equity investment committee and regional investment committee, consistently garnered annual performance ratings of “exceeded” or “met” expectations and was consistently awarded significant annual incentive compensation, the complaint contends.

BNY in 2021 appointed a new regional president to whom Barker reported, and this executive soon showed an ageist bias, referring to a 67-year-old wealth strategist as a “white-haired guy trying to look young,” the lawsuit contends.

The executive, in meetings, also referred to the wealth strategist as “old,”  “confused” and “befuddled,” although the strategist was neither confused nor befuddled, the suit alleges.

Later that year, the regional president surreptitiously told sales staff not to include Barker and another FWIA in his 60s in pitch meetings with new and prospective clients without his approval, according to the complaint.

Both Barker and that colleague were the only two FWIAs not given their annual 2022 performance reviews. They and the wealth strategist in his 60s — the regional president’s oldest direct reports — all were denied annual reviews, although younger colleagues received theirs, the lawsuit alleges.

In January 2023, Barker was told his employment was terminated as his position was being eliminated, a reason he alleges is baseless given equally or less qualified younger FWIAs kept their jobs.

Two of three FWIAs who lost their jobs that day were in their 60s — the other was a woman in her mid-50s — and the older wealth strategist’s employment was terminated at the same time, the lawsuit says.

The three dismissed employees in their 60s were the regional president’s oldest direct reports, the complaint states.

On the same day, BNY confirmed to the media that it planned to lay off about 1,500 workers, but also said it planned to “invest in areas that include ‘early-in-career talent’ and that it expects to ramp up its recruiting on college campus this year,” further demonstrating BNY’s age-based plan to excise older workers in favor of bringing on younger ones, the suit alleges.

In addition to dismissing Barker, BNY downgraded his performance rating and denied him an annual bonus for 2022, even though it had refused to provide him with a performance review for the year, it says.

Barker seeks damages, including all lost compensation and benefits, and to be restored to the position he would have occupied if not for the alleged discrimination.

A BNY spokesperson told ThinkAdvisor by email Wednesday: “BNY is strongly committed to maintaining a diverse workforce and takes any allegations of discrimination seriously. Based on our investigation, we believe these claims are entirely without merit and we will defend ourselves accordingly.”

Image: Adobe Stock

Dinah Wisenberg Brin

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