Nationwide Class Action Filed Against UBS Financial Services, Inc. Alleging a Company-wide Practice of Racial Discrimination

19 October 2005

On Tuesday, October 18, 2005, three
African American former employees of UBS Financial Services, Inc. ("UBSFS"),
filed a class action lawsuit against the company in the United States District
Court for the Southern District of New York alleging racial discrimination in
hiring, promotion and other employment practices. The lawsuit was filed on
behalf of all African Americans who were, are, or will be employed, or who
sought employment at UBSFS, as brokers, non-broker officers, and other
professional positions. The lawsuit seeks to put an end to years of racial
discrimination at UBSFS. Information concerning the lawsuit can be obtained
at http://www.ubsfsdiscrimination.com.
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, and denies African American employees resources, support and
professional opportunities provided to their Caucasian co-workers. According
to the lawsuit, these practices stem from stereotypes about the ability of
African Americans to operate within UBSFS's system and the securities industry
in general.
Among other facts, the Complaint 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. UBSFS failed to provide these segregated
branch offices with proper support and they were eventually closed. Most of
the minority brokers who worked there, including two of the plaintiffs, were
eventually terminated. The Complaint also cites company-wide racially
disparate staffing statistics, including the nearly total absence of African
Americans in branch office management positions. The lawsuit seeks injunctive
relief to end UBSFS's discriminatory practices as well as compensatory and
punitive damages.
The lawsuit is brought by attorneys Stephen A. Whinston, Carey R. D'Avino,
Shanon J. Carson and Selim Ablo of the law firm of Berger & Montague, P.C., a
national leader in representing plaintiffs in class action and civil rights
cases, and Bruce E. Gerstein and Brett Cebulash of Garwin, Gerstein & Fisher,
L.L.P. Information about these law firms can be found at their respective
websites: http://www.bergermontague.com and http://www.garwingerstein.com.
For questions about this class action case against UBSFS, please contact
Stephen A. Whinston (swhinston@bm.net), Shanon J. Carson (scarson@bm.net) or
Selim Ablo (sablo@bm.net), at (215) 875-3000.