Morgan Stanley Must Pay Ex-Manager $1M

A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration panel says that Morgan Stanley (MS) Smith Barney has to pay Gregory Carl Torretta $1 million. The financial firm’s ex-manager claims that he was forced to unfairly resign.

Torretta had sought $8 million to $9 million for what he claims were wrongful termination and the breach of his employment contract. Torretta contends that Morgan Stanley had accused him of criticizing the performance of a branch manager, whom he was about to fire, and that he was going to take that person with him to another firm. The allegations surfaced after the branch manager, who was unhappy with the oversight, wrote Torretta implying that the latter had talked about leaving the brokerage firm and suggested that he also leave with him. The branch manager cc’ed Torretta’s boss on the email.

Torretta says that the firm then told him he could either resign or be fired, so he resigned. He is now employed with Ameriprise Financial Services Inc. (AMP). The branch manager was letter let go.

Torretta’s legal team contends that Morgan Stanley did not abide by proper procedures when handling the matter.

Meantime, a Morgan Stanley Wealth Management (the new name of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney) spokesperson says that the firm disagrees with the panel’s ruling and it is currently exploring its options.

Securities Fraud
Our stockbroker fraud law firm represents clients that have sustained investment losses because of broker misconduct, including those involving misrepresentations and omissions, overconcentration, churning, unsuitable investment recommendations, failure to execute trades, inadequate or lack of supervision, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, breach of promise, registration violations, margin account abuse, insider trading, and unauthorized trading.

Among the types of securities claims we are currently investigating are those involving Non-Traded REITS, Wells REIT II, UBS Willow Fund LLC, Wells Timberland REIT, Apple REITs, MF Global Holdings Ltd., elder exploitation, principal protected notes, private placements, reverse convertible notes, collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), mortgage-backed securities (MBS), and high yield bonds.

Morgan Stanley Ordered to Pay $1 Million to Ex-Manager, Wall Street Journal, January 7, 2013