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October 17, 2023 at 12:15 PM
The ex-girlfriend and client of a Stifel advisor is suing the broker-dealer, saying the advisor strangled her in a drunken rage after years of repeated physical and emotional abuse.
Stifel failed to warn her of his history of abuse even as it permitted her to help him solicit clients at the firm’s expense, the plaintiff, Christine Lenzo, alleged, saying the firm breached its duty of care to her as both a client and an “employee-in-fact.”
According to the complaint, filed Oct. 10 in the Supreme Court of the State of New York in Manhattan, Lenzo (aka Krysia Lenzo) met Andrew Baker Woolworth Jr. through the online dating app Bumble around November 2020. They started a romantic relationship and moved in together that month, according to the complaint.
Lenzo became a Stifel client and opened personal accounts with the firm, where Woolworth became her money manager, the complaint says.
In 2021 and 2022, Lenzo worked to solicit clients on behalf of Woolworth and Stifel at their request, meeting with prospects at social events and receiving compensation for travel and other expenses, according to the complaint.
Upon information and belief, Lenzo’s complaint states, Stifel was aware of a protective order obtained against Woolworth in May 2018 by his then wife, who said he assaulted and battered her. Woolworth underwent drug and alcohol testing at the company’s behest, the complaint said.
“Shortly after Plaintiff began a romantic relationship” with Woolworth, she “repeatedly fell ill and experienced sedative effects during and after nights out” with the defendant, according to the complaint. One such event occurred in New York City on Nov. 12, 2020, when she went out on a date with Woolworth and she “became physically ill and fainted,” the complaint states.
In December 2021, Woolworth, “while intoxicated, strangled Plaintiff after she complained of his repeated drunkenness,” the complaint says.
Then, on May 26, 2022, while they were living together in Greenwich, Connecticut, Lenzo observed him “return to their apartment after an afternoon of excessive drinking and recreational drug use with friends,” the complaint alleges.
