Gee, it's getting tough to entertain clients these days. The WSJ reports that Morgan Stanley fired an equity research analyst and three institutional equity sales staffers after they "accompanied one or more clients on a visit to an adult-entertainment club, according to people familiar with the matter."
The firing of the staffers, all men, sent a message that exclusionary, male-only activities won't be tolerated at the firm, according to people familiar with the matter. In mid-2004, Morgan Stanley agreed to pay $54 million to settle a gender-discrimination case. As part of the settlement, Morgan Stanley denied wrongdoing but agreed to take additional steps to promote diversity and conduct antidiscrimination training.
One of the complaints in the gender-discrimination case brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was that women in the same institutional-stock division had been improperly excluded from certain client-related activities such as male-only golf outings and strip-club visits.
The EEOC complaint in 2001 followed an individual complaint filed with the EEOC in 1998 by a former institutional-stock saleswoman, Allison Schieffelin, who was fired in 2000. She had charged that gender discrimination caused her not to be promoted to managing director.
A Morgan Stanley spokesman said, "We don't think it's appropriate to comment on personnel matters."...
In the recent episode, the four fired employees were all technology-industry specialists who made the strip-club visit during free time while they were attending a three-day Morgan Stanley conference for tech investors in early November at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa in Phoenix.
The firm has a policy against participation in an exclusionary event while on company business, people familiar with the firm said. One rule specifically bars attending adult-entertainment establishments in connection with company business. One or more clients were present at the Arizona establishment, one person familiar with the matter said....
Morgan Stanley Fires Staffers For Strip-Club Trip - Wall Street Journal
Recent Comments