Morgan Stanley Retaliated Against Whistleblower, Suit Claims

Morgan Stanley is embroiled in a lawsuit for allegedly retaliating against a former employee who complained about company policy breaches.

According to the complaint, filed in the Superior Court for the State of California of the County of San Francisco, starting at the end of 2022, Francine Torres “had observed colleagues and managers making customer trades by using co-worker’s passwords, which constitutes a violation of Federal securities laws,” as well as Morgan Stanley policies.

According to the suit, when she complained to her immediate manager, other managers and human resources, ”no one took any action.”

Instead, the complaint continues, Morgan Stanley “retaliated against her, by among other things, imposing onerous working conditions on her” such as revoking her permission to work remotely, despite allowing her coworkers to continue to do so.

Torres, in her forties, was recruited by Morgan Stanley in 2017. Before the events giving rise to the whistleblower complaint, Torres “received stellar work performance reviews, promotions and bonuses. She was a model employee,” the suit states.