Goldman fires salesman charged twice with attacking women

Joe Karwosky worked in the firm's asset management division.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. fired a salesman last month after he was arrested twice in just over a year and charged both times with attacking a woman.

Joe Karwosky, 35, spent eight years with the firm and worked in its asset management division, helping manage the bank’s relationships with pension funds. The vice president joined after about five years at UBS Group, according to industry records.

He’s accused of choking a woman in New York on the Friday before Memorial Day, according to court records reviewed by Bloomberg. A police officer said he saw her swollen face and bruised arms. Last year, Mr. Karwosky was indicted by a grand jury after he allegedly punched a woman on a street corner a few blocks from the bank’s headquarters.

“We deny all the allegations,” said Lance Fletcher, his lawyer. “Mr. Karwosky maintains his innocence.”

Goldman Sachs fired Mr. Karwosky in June because he didn’t give “accurate information” about events outside of the bank, according to a filing in industry records.

“Upon discovering the charges against Mr. Karwosky, the firm immediately placed him on leave and began a full investigation,” said Pat Scanlan, a spokesman for Goldman Sachs. He said the company learned of both arrests at the same time.

Banks and other big companies have faced pressure in recent months to dismiss men who’ve been accused of violence toward women. This year, Morgan Stanley said it fired a financial adviser in Oregon following a report that four women had accused him of abuse over 15 years.

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“It’s unusual for such an arrest to go unknown to the employer for a long time,” said Mark Lerner, who heads the employment litigation practice at Kasowitz Benson Torres. “These matters are easy to track if you know they are there. But if it isn’t reported, I can understand how they wouldn’t know about it.”

In April 2017, Mr. Karwosky and his girlfriend were yelling at each other in a cab after dinner, according to a summary of a statement he gave police. “The next thing I know I’m in handcuffs. I don’t remember ever putting my hands on her,” he said.

She told police he punched her, while Mr. Karwosky said at the scene she was “overreacting,” according to filings. A grand jury indicted him and he pleaded not guilty.

Two months ago, he was arrested again and charged with strangulation, a felony.

Mr. Karwosky, a graduate of Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, owns a 32-foot boat called Zuppa di Pesce II, according to public records. When he ran November’s New York City Marathon, colleagues helped him raise money for a foundation that works to “spread the message of positivity and non-violence.”

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