Morgan Stanley is facing a discrimination lawsuit by a former managing director who claims he was fired because of his age.
In the lawsuit filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Edward Sullivan, 56, accuses human resources executives Jeffrey Brodsky and Eric Kayne of conspiring to end his employment.
Jim Wiggins, a Morgan Stanley spokesman, told Reuters: “The lawsuit has absolutely no merit, and we will contest it vigorously.”
Sullivan is requesting his job back with seniority and benefits, and at least $30 million of compensatory and punitive damages, according to the Reuters report.
Sullivan’s lawyer, John Crossman, a partner at Zukerman Gore & Brandeis LLP in New York, says the next step is the discovery phase where both parties will collect document to help prove their case.
This is not the first time the firm has faced a discrimination case. In 2001, hundred of female employees of the firm filed a sexual discrimination lawsuit and later settled for $54 million. (Click here for more on that settlement, and Merrill Lynch’s multi-million dollar settlement with its female employees.)