Ex-Analyst Sues Vanguard for Bias

A former longtime Vanguard Group employee has filed a federal lawsuit accusing the mutual fund giant of age, gender and religious discrimination in firing him.

Joseph Rothman, who worked for 17 years in Vanguard’s municipal credit research group, alleges the firm terminated his employment last year, when he was 57, despite his strong performance, motivated by “unlawful biases against him grounded in his age, gender, and Jewish faith.”

Rothman, who worked as a senior analyst, is seeking economic damages that his lawyer said would exceed $1 million, in addition to other compensation.

“Joe loved his job and expected to work at Vanguard until retirement which wouldn’t be for at least another decade. He enjoyed mentoring younger, less experienced teammates, but never expected to be discarded and replaced by them,” his attorney, Patricia V. Pierce, a partner with Weir Greenblatt Pierce LLP, told ThinkAdvisor via email Thursday.

“He truly believes that there was no legitimate reason for his termination,” Pierce said. ”Rather he was terminated because as an aging Jewish male he did not fit the management profile that Vanguard wants to retain and reward.”

Vanguard denied the allegations. ”We believe the allegations are without merit,” the company said in a statement emailed Thursday. ”Vanguard is committed to hiring and retaining a diverse workforce, and we do not tolerate discrimination of any kind.”

Based on Rothman’s “record of sustained, superior performance,” Vanguard management in 2017 selected him to “add depth” to the municipal credit research group in its Arizona office, according to the lawsuit, filed last week in the U.S. District Court for Pennsylvania’s Eastern District (Case 2:23-cv-01263-PD).

“Taking this opportunity, Rothman uprooted his family from suburban Philadelphia where they had a strong community within which to practice their Jewish faith and moved to Arizona,” the complaint says. “However, from the outset of his employment at Vanguard, others were uncomfortable with Rothman.”

‘Too New York’

Some at Vanguard viewed Rothman as “too New York,” which Ruth Levine, the manager who hired him and is also Jewish, has said was code for too Jewish, according to the lawsuit. “Levine also said that the discomfort had nothing to do with Rothman’s job performance but arose from his perceived ‘New York’ (Jewish)-ness.”

After Levine retired and Rothman transferred to Arizona, Vanguard started treating him differently, passing him over for promotions that went to “younger, less qualified individuals” who became his supervisors, the lawsuit says.

When discussing the relocation to Arizona, Rothman shared that he was pleased to find a home near a synagogue, and a Vanguard principal, Ron Mintz, responded, “So, you’re still doing the Jewy,” according to the lawsuit.

When Rothman told his manager about Mintz’s remark, the supervisor discouraged him from informing human resources or others in management, according to the suit.