A former Edward D. Jones & Co. LP broker filed a complaint against the company for alleged racial discrimination against African-American employees.
In the class action suit filed May 24 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Wayne Bland claims that Edward Jones employs policies and practices that "unlawfully segregate its workforce and deny African-Americans income and advancement opportunities because of their race." Bland worked as a financial adviser at Edward Jones from November 2014 until March 2016.
The lawsuit is on behalf of Bland and other African-American financial advisers currently or previously employed by Edward Jones who were harmed by the firm's allegedly discriminatory policies and practices. It seeks class-wide injunctive relief and an end to the alleged practices.
This marks the third class action suit filed against the brokerage this year. One accused the company of improper practices regarding its trainee program, in which Bland was also a plaintiff, and the other alleged that the company ran a reverse churning scheme.
"We strongly disagree with the allegations in each of [Bland's] lawsuits and we intend to vigorously defend both in court," a spokeswoman for Edward Jones said in an email.
Edward D. Jones & Co. is the principal operating subsidiary of Jones Financial Cos. LLLP.
