Advisor Sues Hightower, Alleging Age Discrimination and Unfair Treatment
From the desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law
A Massachusetts-based financial advisor, Glenn Frank has filed a lawsuit against Hightower Holdings and Lexington Wealth Management, alleging age discrimination and unfair treatment. According to WealthManagement, Frank claims Hightower, which acquired Lexington in 2019, has progressively marginalized him due to his age.
According to the complaint, Frank, who is 69, asserts that Hightower has systematically pushed him out of client-facing roles to favor younger advisors. Frank alleges that after Hightower’s acquisition, his responsibilities and roles were diminished, including being removed from the Investment Committee and having his client accounts reassigned without his knowledge. Frank contends that the firm’s leadership clearly preferred younger advisors to take over leadership roles to drive firm growth.
WealthManagement also reports that Frank alleges that Hightower misrepresented his availability to clients, reduced his compensation, and imposed further restrictions on his client interactions. Despite filing an internal complaint with Hightower’s Human Resources Department and notifying the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination of his intent to file a formal complaint, Frank claims the firm retaliated by suspending him, citing an email he sent to clients.
Frank's lawsuit seeks an injunction to prevent Hightower from enforcing non-solicitation and restrictive covenants, which he argues unfairly limit his ability to work with his long-standing clients. He remains employed at Lexington.
According to WealthManagement, Hightower has not commented on the ongoing litigation.
Eccleston Law LLC represents investors and financial advisors nationwide in securities, employment, transition, regulatory, and disciplinary matters.
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