Benefits October 18, 2005

UBS Hit with Racial Discrimination Lawsuit

October 18, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Three African American former employees of UBS Financial Services (UBSFS) sued the company in federal court over racial discrimination allegations.
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The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of all African Americans who were, are, or will be employed, as brokers, non-broker officers, and other professional positions at the firm, according to a news release from the plaintiffs’ lawyers.

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According to the news release, the Complaint charges that UBSFS consistently:

  • fails to hire qualified African Americans for its professional positions
  • segregates African Americans within its workforce
  • assigns African Americans to lower-ranking positions with lower compensation than Caucasian employees
  • denies them opportunities for promotion and advancement provided to similarly situated Caucasian employees
  • denies African American employees resources, support and professional opportunities provided to their Caucasian co-workers.

The lawsuit cites the creation by UBSFS of two so-called “diversity” branches based on a “separate but unequal” model, staffed nearly entirely of minority brokers and focused nearly entirely on obtaining business from minority clientele.

The lawsuit is brought by the law firms of Berger & Montague, P.C., and Garwin, Gerstein & Fisher, L.L.P. More information is at http://www.ubsfsdiscrimination.com .

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