A viral video of a man and woman accusing a property owner of illegally stenciling “Black Lives Matter” on his own home has led to the man’s dismissal from Raymond James.
The man and woman, identified by CBS News as Robert Larkins and Lisa Alexander, called police on James Juanillo, a Filipino resident of the Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco, claiming he didn’t live at the address. Juanillo recorded the incident and posted it to his Facebook page, where it received 16.3 million views. Police took no action when they arrived at the scene.
The outrage the video sparked caused Larkins and Alexander to issue apologies over the weekend.
“I want to apologize directly to Mr. Juanillo,” Alexander’s statement read in part. “There are not enough words to describe how truly sorry I am for being disrespectful to him last Tuesday when I made the decision to question him about what he was doing in front of his home. I should have minded my own business.”
“Over the last two days, I have had my eyes opened wide to my own ignorance of racial inequity, and I have thought a lot about my own personal blind spots,” Larkins said. “I was wrong to question Mr. Juanillo, and I was wrong to call the neighborhood police watch. It was wrong, and I am profoundly sorry for treating him with disrespect.”
Apology issued
According to FINRA, Larkins moved to Raymond James from Morgan Keegan in 2012, but Larkins’ apology was not enough to deter Raymond James, one of the country’s largest independent broker-dealers, from taking action, and the company announced it was cutting ties.
“Raymond James has zero-tolerance for racism or discrimination of any kind,” the company tweeted on Monday. “An inclusive workplace is fundamental to our culture, one of which people are free to bring their whole selves to their careers, and we expect our associates to conduct themselves appropriately inside and outside the workplace.”
After an investigation into the circumstances of the video, it added, “we have concluded that the actions of he and his partner are inconsistent with our values, and the associate is no longer employed with Raymond James.”
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
