Morgan Stanley Executive Departs -- WSJ
July 12 2018 - 3:02AM
Dow Jones News
By Liz Hoffman
This article is being republished as part of our daily
reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S.
print edition of The Wall Street Journal (July 12, 2018).
A Morgan Stanley executive overseeing brokers who catered to
celebrities left the firm this week after several employees claimed
harassment at branches he managed in Los Angeles.
A spokesman for the firm confirmed the departure of Robert
Perry, who had been at Morgan Stanley's brokerage and a predecessor
firm since 1993.
Mr. Perry ran four brokerage branches in Los Angeles that are
among Morgan Stanley's most lucrative, overseeing more than 125
brokers whose clients have included Elon Musk and pop star Katy
Perry, according to people familiar with the matter.
Mr. Perry couldn't be reached for comment.
At least four women have filed lawsuits or engaged in
private-arbitration proceedings over the past year and a half
claiming sexual harassment, workplace hostilities and poor
management at branches Mr. Perry oversaw, according to court
records and people familiar with the matter. The suits say the firm
ignored problems and, in some cases, transferred affected employees
to other offices.
Mr. Perry isn't accused of harassment himself. He left the firm
after an investigation by Morgan Stanley into his behavior and
management style, according to people familiar with the matter.
Mr. Perry is named as a defendant in one employee lawsuit, from
2017, that says he failed to investigate when a trainee told him
that a broker she had been involved in a relationship with cut off
her access to client files.
Mr. Perry took a leave of absence from the firm earlier this
year and later returned, people familiar with the matter said.
Morgan Stanley has 600 brokerage branches around the country and
they produce about 45% of the firm's revenue. Wealth management is
the centerpiece of Chief Executive James Gorman's turnaround plan
for the firm, an effort that has revived Morgan Stanley's
fortunes.
In one Los Angeles branch overseen by Mr. Perry, a Morgan
Stanley employee had a glass of water poured on her head by a
broker in full view of the office, according to a court filing from
another employee.
An employee, Ivy Xiao, said in a separate lawsuit that one of
her managers put his hand under her skirt and another asked her to
send him explicit pictures. When she refused, he took her off
client accounts they shared, she said; she was later transferred to
another Morgan Stanley office.
Lorena Alcantara said she was working as a bartender at a
restaurant inside a high-end Los Angeles gym when she met Mike
Ladge, a Morgan Stanley broker who hired her as an assistant. In a
lawsuit filed in March against Morgan Stanley and Mr. Ladge, she
claimed the broker shared graphic details about his sex life with
her, recounted instances in which he had paid for sex and ridiculed
her limited English.
Mr. Ladge didn't respond to requests for comment. A Morgan
Stanley spokesman declined to comment.
In April, Mr. Ladge, whose website says he caters to
professional athletes, actors and musicians, was named to Morgan
Stanley's President Club, signaling him as a top-earning broker.
Ms. Alcantara's lawsuit is now in a private arbitration proceeding,
under a policy Ms. Alcantara signed as part of her employment,
according to a court filing.
Write to Liz Hoffman at liz.hoffman@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 12, 2018 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)
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