A former Charles Schwab advisor is suing the firm, alleging she was discriminated against, "forced to constructively terminate her employment," and replaced by a younger male counterpart.
The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division, states that Lynette Ancona joined Schwab in May 2009 and at the time of separation in December 2023 was vice president—senior financial consultant at the Winter Park branch.
A constructive termination is when an employee is forced to quit due to intolerable working conditions.
Ancona’s branch manager, Olivier “Oliver” Guerin, "engaged in a pattern of treating younger male employees more favorably than older females," the suit contends.
Ancona "received multiple awards in recognition of her exemplary service to the company," the suit states. "She loved her job and the clients she served" and "was consistently a top performer at the branches where she worked."
At no time did she face discipline before raising the discrimination complaints, according to the suit.
'Routinely Belittled'
According to the suit, Guerin "routinely belittled and insulted Ancona, conduct he did not engage in with younger male employees," and "would constantly assert that none of Ancona’s colleagues liked working with her, an assertion belied by her excellent rapport with her coworkers."
Guerin "would downplay Ancona’s accomplishments and emphasize his own, and he would compare his income to hers, implying she was not performing at the same level as him when he was a financial consultant," the suit contends.
Guerin "further assisted younger employees, particularly younger males, with advancing their careers, but he undermined Ancona’s advancement and success," and "would assert that the younger males were 'young and hungry,'" according to the suit.
Complaints Not Addressed
Three former colleagues acknowledged to Ancona that Guerin favored younger male employees over older female workers, according to the suit.
Guerin, the suit continues, "did everything in his power to isolate Ancona from her coworkers and to distance himself from her, making her job increasingly difficult."
Ancona raised complaints of age and sex discrimination to Schwab's human resources, but "her complaints were not addressed," according to the suit.
In response to her complaints of age and sex discrimination, Guerin engaged in retaliation against her, and "continuously unfairly scrutinized Ancona’s performance and increasingly isolated her from her colleagues," the suit states.
On or about Oct. 16, 2023, Guerin issued Ancona "a baseless and inaccurate Coaching Memorandum, which had a chilling effect on her career" with Schwab.
Neither Guerin nor human resources "would allow her to correct the inaccuracies. Ancona objected to the coaching memorandum to Human Resources and made it clear that she felt she was being targeted due to her age and sex," the suit states.
In or about December 2023, Guerin reversed a $60,000 commission earned by Ancona to appease a younger male colleague, according to the suit.
Following her further complaint, "Guerin increased his criticism of Ancona’s performance and increased his isolation of her from her colleagues," the suit contends, and "Ancona was forced to constructively terminate her employment" on Dec. 22, 2023.
Ancona’s mental and physical health "greatly suffered" as a result of Guerin’s discriminatory treatment, according to the suit.
"To her knowledge and belief, Ancona was replaced by a younger male employee following her constructive termination," the suit states.
She is seeking back pay, compensatory damages, prejudgment interest, punitive damages and attorneys’ fees and costs.
Schwab said in a statement Thursday: “We want our employees to thrive at Schwab and we have a zero-tolerance policy towards any form of discrimination. We dispute these allegations and we will respond in court.”
Credit: Diego Radzinschi/ALM
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