A former longtime Vanguard Group worker has filed a federal lawsuit accusing the mutual fund big of age, gender and non secular discrimination in firing him.
Joseph Rothman, who labored for 17 years in Vanguard’s municipal credit score analysis group, alleges the agency terminated his employment final yr, when he was 57, regardless of his robust efficiency, motivated by “illegal biases towards him grounded in his age, gender, and Jewish religion.”
Rothman, who labored as a senior analyst, is looking for financial damages that his lawyer mentioned would exceed $1 million, along with different compensation.
“Joe liked his job and anticipated to work at Vanguard till retirement which wouldn’t be for no less than one other decade. He loved mentoring youthful, much less skilled teammates, however by no means anticipated to be discarded and changed by them,” his lawyer, Patricia V. Pierce, a accomplice with Weir Greenblatt Pierce LLP, advised ThinkAdvisor by way of electronic mail Thursday.
“He really believes that there was no reliable motive for his termination,” Pierce mentioned. ”Fairly he was terminated as a result of as an getting old Jewish male he didn’t match the administration profile that Vanguard desires to retain and reward.”
Vanguard denied the allegations. ”We consider the allegations are with out advantage,” the corporate mentioned in an announcement emailed Thursday. ”Vanguard is dedicated to hiring and retaining a various workforce, and we don’t tolerate discrimination of any type.”
Based mostly on Rothman’s “report of sustained, superior efficiency,” Vanguard administration in 2017 chosen him to “add depth” to the municipal credit score analysis group in its Arizona workplace, in response to the lawsuit, filed final week within the U.S. District Court docket for Pennsylvania’s Japanese District (Case 2:23-cv-01263-PD).
“Taking this chance, Rothman uprooted his household from suburban Philadelphia the place that they had a robust group inside which to follow their Jewish religion and moved to Arizona,” the grievance says. “Nonetheless, from the outset of his employment at Vanguard, others had been uncomfortable with Rothman.”
‘Too New York’
Some at Vanguard considered Rothman as “too New York,” which Levine has mentioned was code for too Jewish, in response to the lawsuit. “Levine additionally mentioned that the discomfort had nothing to do with Rothman’s job efficiency however arose from his perceived ‘New York’ (Jewish)-ness.”
After Levine retired and Rothman transferred to Arizona, Vanguard began treating him in another way, passing him over for promotions that went to “youthful, much less certified people” who turned his supervisors, the lawsuit says.
When discussing the relocation to Arizona, Rothman shared that he was happy to discover a house close to a synagogue, and a Vanguard principal, Ron Mintz, responded, “So, you’re nonetheless doing the Jewy,” in response to the lawsuit.
When Rothman advised his supervisor about Mintz’s comment, the supervisor discouraged him from informing human assets or others in administration, in response to the go well with.
