June 25, 2021
by Miriam Rozen
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Old man walking in the autumn park.
A federal court has granted Wells Fargo’ motion to compel an Idaho-based broker with 47 years in the industry to arbitrate his age-discrimination claims he filed against the wirehouse.
The broker, Thomas George Lenze, had filed his case in court while he was fighting Wells Fargo’s bid in arbitration to claw back $78,186 he owed on a promissory note.In its May 13-filed motion to compel, Wells Fargo’s lawyers argued that Lenze was already “arbitrating claims related to his employment at Wells Fargo” in a proceeding before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Among Lenze’s Finra claims was “the same claim being alleged before this Court,” Wells Fargo’s lawyers argued.
“Plaintiff cannot therefore contend that he is bound to arbitrate some of his employment related claims in the FINRA Arbitration, but not others,” they wrote.
Wells Fargo lawyers also argued that Lenze had agreed to arbitration when he signed a clause as part of the execution of his promissory note.
On June 3, U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitly in the Eastern District of Missouri in St. Louis agreed with the wirehouse, ordered the dispute to arbitration, and stayed the lawsuit until completion of those proceedings.
Lenze, who initiated his lawsuit on April 20, filed a an amended complaint on June 2, alleging that Wells Fargo made a “concerted effort” to “drive” him out due to his age when it closed his two-broker Ketchum, Idaho, office in 2017 and insisted that he relocate to its Twin Falls office 80 miles away.
The broker, who was around 70 at the time, alleged he was constructively discharged by the new three-and-a-half hour commute over a “precarious” two-lane highway. Wells Fargo initially said he could work remotely but later denied him the ability and instead put him under heightened supervision for having a certain percentage of his portfolios in Unit Investment Trusts, Lenze alleged. He complained to human resources “to no avail,” he alleged.
A Wells Fargo spokesperson declined to comment for this story, but previously the firm issued the following statement:
“Wells Fargo denies all of the claims in Mr. Lenze’s case, including any claims of discrimination. …Wells Fargo provides equal employment opportunities with regard to the terms and conditions of employment for all employees regardless of age or any other status protected by applicable law.”
In its Finra action, Wells Fargo claims Lenze still owes that balance on the note, initially issued as a $122,150.00 loan in 2016 based on his advance production bonuses, with 3% interest from the date of his termination, according to his lawsuit.
A lawyer for Lenze did not respond to a request for comment. Lenze left Wells Fargo in February 2020 to join independent broker-dealer FSC Securities in Hailey, Idaho, less than 12 miles from Ketchum.
His lawsuit against Wells Fargo is not the first time that Lenze, who has worked at three firms over his career, including Morgan Stanley and predecessor broker-dealers, Oppenheimer and Merrill Lynch, has tangled with a wirehouse over a promissory note.
He filed for bankruptcy in 2015 “due to an arbitration with Morgan Stanley where Morgan Stanley was awarded $826,000 plus interest,” according to his BrokerCheck record.
The arbitration award, however, also held Morgan Stanley “solely liable” to pay Lenze $100,000 “as damages for breach of its obligation to maintain a physical office in the Sun Valley, Idaho area.”
Large broker-dealers have been facing a number of age discrimination suits as the average age of the brokerage force industry-wide continues to tick up.
About one-fifth are 65 or older, and the average age is 55, according to a 2019 survey by market research company JD Power.
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June 25, 2021 at 11:08PM
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Court Grants Wells Fargo's Request to Send Broker's Age Claim to Arbitration - AdvisorHub
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