Merrill ordered to reinstate ex-broker

An arbitration panel has ordered Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. to reinstate a former broker who successfully sued the company for sexual discrimination, according to a Reuters report.
In a ruling dated April 9, the panel upheld a July 2005 decision calling for Merrill to give the former broker, Hydie Sumner, a job at its San Antonio branch and admission to the company’s management assessment center.
The company claimed that it fulfilled its obligations to Ms. Sumner by offering her an associate director position in Oakland, Calif., which she turned down because she wanted to first attend the firm’s Management Assessment Center, despite the fact that the brokerage waived that usual requirement.
The arbitration panel awarded the $2.2 million in April 2004 and ordered Ms. Sumner’s reinstatement in July 2005 (InvestmentNews, August 24) .
Ms. Sumner, who worked at Merrill from 1991 to 1997, was one of a handful of plaintiffs to bring claims under the settlement to arbitration and was the only member of that group who sought to return to the company.
In the late 1990s, New York-based Merrill agreed to settle sexual discrimination claims by more than 900 female brokers, resulting in more than $100 million in payouts.