Citi Ordered to Pay Ex-Broker $1.4M in Gender Discrimination Case

What You Need to Know

A three-person arb panel ruled in favor of an ex-Citi broker who had accused the firm of gender discrimination and retaliation.
The company was ordered to pay $1.4 million in compensatory damages, plus interest and legal fees.
Citigroup said it disagreed with the panel’s decision and plans to explore its options.

Arbitrators have ordered Citigroup to pay more than $1.4 million to a former broker at the firm who had sued, alleging unlawful gender discrimination and subsequent retaliation in the terms, conditions and privileges of her employment at the company after she complained about the alleged discrimination.

Erin Ann Daly filed a complaint against the company on Nov. 28, 2016, in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan. But on Feb. 6, 2018, Judge Richard J. Sullivan dismissed her Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower claim and referred her other claims to arbitration.

Daly took her case to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s Dispute Resolution Services. Last week, a three-person public arbitration panel ruled in her favor. The decision was posted Friday on FINRA’s website.

The panel ordered Citigroup to pay Daly $1.4 million in compensatory damages, plus interest on that sum at the rate of 3.25% per annum from the date of the award, through and including the payment of the award in full, and $42,000 in attorneys’ fees.

The panel also recommended the expungement of the reason for termination and termination explanation in Section 3 of Daly’s Form U5 filed by Citigroup on Dec. 23, 2014, and maintained by the Central Registration Depository.