What You Must Know
- The plaintiff contends she was subjected to repeated screaming outbursts.
- The swimsuit additionally alleges incapacity discrimination and a whistleblower violation.
- The swimsuit claims retaliation over unpaid additional time and discrimination complaints.
A former Edward D. Jones department workplace administrator has filed a lawsuit towards the agency and one in all its monetary advisors alleging the advisor subjected her to abusive mistreatment that prompted the previous worker to hunt psychological well being care.
The case additionally accuses the agency of discriminating towards the previous worker over a incapacity, failing to offer affordable lodging and firing her for invoking her rights as an individual with a incapacity, her complaints and a failure to pay additional time wages.
“We’ve got not been served with the lawsuit you referenced and subsequently haven’t but reviewed it,” a agency spokesperson instructed ThinkAdvisor by e mail Thursday.
Attorneys for Jacquelyn Kennedy filed a grievance on Sept. 1 towards the monetary advisory agency and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, advisor Cheryl Balaban, alleging tort claims towards each defendants for gross negligence, outrage and assault. The swimsuit, filed in Florida Circuit Court docket in Broward County, additionally accuses Balaban of tortious interference with enterprise relations.
“The therapy to which Kennedy was subjected to by Defendant is just outrageous by up to date American societal requirements even these right here in South Florida,” the grievance, which seeks greater than $100,000 in damages, alleges.
Kennedy was “underneath psychiatric therapy due to the way in which Balaban mistreated her and was considering harming herself,” based on the swimsuit, which says the plaintiff known as a third-party worker help vendor for psychological assist about 17 occasions over 16 months. (It’s unclear from the lawsuit whether or not there was psychiatric care separate from the worker help assist.)
Kennedy labored for Edward Jones for eight years, from 2014 to 2022, and was assigned to work with Balaban in 2019 “after having been abused by one other monetary advisor,” the lawsuit states.
Among the many allegations, the lawsuit contends: Kennedy was made to work many additional time hours with out pay and was assigned a “large” workload that she couldn’t full throughout scheduled hours; Balaban repeatedly screamed at Kennedy and the screaming put Kennedy into “psychological paralysis” that required her to acquire dwelling workplace help to finish duties.
“Balaban would scream at Kennedy and make Kennedy cry after which sternly inform Kennedy that Kennedy would simply have to take a seat there and take it and cry,“ the grievance alleges.
The swimsuit additionally alleges Balaban, who joined the agency in 2009, per the Edward Jones web site, has a historical past of abusing department workplace directors and beforehand was placed on probation and reprimanded for it, and that the advisor “admitted to Kennedy that she has critical psychological points and knew she wanted assist.”
