Credit Suisse sued two of its former U.S.-based wealth managers in a bid to nullify more than $1.6 million in back pay and fees the men were awarded in arbitration following a dispute over the terms of their departure.
Richard Dellarusso and Mark Sullivan left the bank to join rival UBS after Credit Suisse announced in 2015 that it was shuttering its U.S. private banking business and giving exclusive recruiting rights to Wells Fargo. Credit Suisse said the men resigned, but Dellarusso and Sullivan claimed the shuttering of the business constituted termination without cause and that they should have been paid their deferred compensation.
A FINRA arbitration panel sided with the brokers in a 2-1
The Dellarusso and Sullivan cases are
In a prepared statement, Credit Suisse said it filed the challenge to the arbitration panel because it was at odds with FINRA’s own conclusions in a related case.
When an unusual recruiting deal between Credit Suisse and Wells Fargo went awry, years of broker frustration, severe attrition and litigation followed. Also at stake: Up to $245 million in back pay.
In Friday’s filing, Credit Suisse said the arbitration panel “engaged in manifest disregard of the law” and that the dissenting panelist concluded that neither “the facts or the law” supported a judgment favoring Dellarusso and Sullivan.
“My clients are looking forward to the eventual payment of their award and their long-awaited deferred compensation they earned at Credit Suisse,” Barry Lax, their lawyer, said in an interview. “They’re entitled to it.”
