The NASD panel found: the firm demonstrated reprehensible conduct that warrants an award of punitive damages.
The panel found that after Sawtelle was fired, Waddell & Reed orchestrated a campaign to slander Sawtelles reputation by giving clients the impression that Sawtelle mishandled their investments, was untrustworthy, no longer in business and not authorized to do business. The panel also found that the firm had indicated to Sawtelles clients that he was in some way involved with embezzling their funds.
While Sawtelle was overjoyed at the panels findings and award, he was careful to avoid denouncing the firm as a whole.
It is very sad because there are a lot of good people at that company, but because of senior management and outside counsel, its tarnished them, said Sawtelle. Ive had 40-plus calls from Waddell & Reed people congratulating me.
Supportive ex-coworkers were not the only Waddell & Reed veterans calling Sawtelle.
I had over 27 calls yesterday where I heard from people who had similar experiences, he said. Youre going to see a lot more cases coming up.
Sawtelle said he feels vindicated by the panels decision. (Waddell & Reed) took four years of my life. They took 17 year of a business I built up as a number one producer.
The Case
In August of 1996, Sawtelle was subpoenaed to testify in an SEC case that alleged that Stevenson had embezzled $2 million over a period of two years.
I went to the SEC and told them that it was on record that this guy should have been terminated twice, said Sawtelle. Outside counsel met with my attorneys and said, "He should be careful what he says."
When Waddell & Reed lawyers requested that he release transcripts of the hearings, Sawtelle agreed. Two days later, he was terminated.
The same day he was terminated, Sawtelles clients received a letter stating that he was no longer with the firm and warning that moving their funds from Waddell & Reed could incur tax and early withdrawal penalties. Furthermore, the Overland Park, Kansas-based firm hired a telemarketing firm to call Sawtelles clients and keep them from moving their assets.
They hired some kind of firm to call these people that knew absolutely nothing but they said, were going to take care of your money, but youd ask them a question and they couldnt answer it because they were telemarketers, said Dennis LaFrance, a longtime client of Sawtelles.
LaFrance and his wife, Linda, left Waddell & Reed to stay with Sawtelle, but the firm did not make the transition easy. The couple was in the process of moving assets out of Waddell & Reed mutual funds gradually, in order to avoid back-end penalties, when their assets suddenly fell off the radar screen. Their representative had moved the entire sum into
Ultimately, Sawtelle retained 2,600 of the 2,800 accounts he had at Waddell & Reed and continues to operate his business through Wyomissing, Pennsylvania-based Hackett Associates.
A Waddell & Reed representative was unavailable for comment prior to publication time.
