A Wells Fargo advisor is accusing the firm of ageism and continuous workplace discrimination in a new lawsuit filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Plaintiff Peter Valdez, a 64-year-old New York-based senior financial advisor who had worked for the firm since 2002, alleges Wells Fargo discriminated against his age when he was transferred to a “less desirable” branch and his client referrals were diverted to a younger financial advisor.
According to the suit, a Wells Fargo manager told another supervisor that Valdez was “too old,” and therefore transferred him to a different office location. Valdez, who was over 60 years old at the time, adds that he lost $10 million in earnings as a result.
Valdez, who is of Mexican descent and a practicing Catholic, also alleges Wells Fargo referred clients to other financial advisors who are of non-Hispanic descent and was denied time off to celebrate a religiously observed holiday.
In the complaint, Valdez says he faced repeated retaliation and complicity from Wells Fargo executives after complaining to the human resources department, adding that he received an “inconsistently meets” year-end performance in 2021, and was transferred again to a non-affluent Wells Fargo branch in Fishkill, New York.
“Plaintiff provided management level personnel with information sufficient to raise a probability of national origin, race, age and ethnicity harassment in the mind of a reasonable employer,” the complaint reads. “Moreover, the harassment was so pervasive and open that a reasonable employer would have had to have been aware of it. Indeed, management level employees were themselves complicit in the abusive conduct.”
Valdez argues that he has lost business opportunities, income, loss of reputation, and career opportunities, and faced emotional distress due to continued retaliation from the firm.
The plaintiff is seeking back pay for lost wages and benefits, commissions, prejudgment interest on the back pay award, reinstatement, compensatory damages, along with attorney fees and costs of the suit.
A Wells Fargo spokesperson declined to comment on the suit.
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Amanda Umpierrez is the Managing Editor of 401(k) Specialist magazine. She is a financial services reporter with over six years of experience and a passion for telling stories and reporting news. Amanda received her degree in journalism and government and politics at St. John’s University. She is originally from Queens, New York, but now resides in Denver, Colorado with her partner. In her free time, Amanda enjoys running, cooking, and watching the latest drama show.
