Regulation And Legislation

Nevada broker sues Merrill Lynch over gender discrimination

Betsy Whipple accuses firm of 'illusory' signing bonus, fraud

A female broker in Nevada has sued Merrill Lynch for gender discrimination, saying the firm retaliated against her for complaining about her treatment.

Betsy Whipple, who had been recruited from Morgan Stanley in 2011, said in a complaint filed in federal court in Las Vegas that in January 2016 she complained to Merrill’s management about being paid less that “similarly situated males.”

Afterwards, she said, the company retaliated by subjecting her to “different terms and conditions of employment,” which included extending her heightened supervision plan for an additional six months and calling her clients to see if they had complaints against her. Ms. Whipple also charges that the firm gave portions of her accounts to a male colleague.

In her charge against Merrill Lynch for fraudulent misrepresentation, Ms. Whipple said that her assets were “stolen from her by Merrill Lynch as soon as she became employed, her income manipulated so that she would not be eligible” for the bonus programs outlined when she was hired, and that she was terminated one month shy of her vesting date, having relied on the firm’s “fraudulent misrepresentations” that she would be eligible for those funds.

Ms. Whipple also claimed that her signing bonus of $412,000 was illusory, since it was a loan to be repaid at the rate of 1.95% interest, which was deducted from her paycheck.

She was discharged on Dec. 7, 2016. Ms. Whipple, who began her securities career at PaineWebber in 1996 and worked at Bear Stearns from 1999 until joining Morgan Stanley in 2006, currently is registered through Newbridge Securities in Hiko, Nev.

Among her charges, Ms. Whipple says that Merrill mislabeled her largest accounts as institutions, which deprived her of commission revenue.

“In 2016, when Merrill Lynch finally flipped the switch and correctly designated the plaintiff’s accounts as retail, her production jumped by 48% without bringing in a new client,” her attorney wrote in the complaint, which asks for compensatory, general, special and punitive damages “in a sum according to proof at the time of trial.”