A former RBC Wealth Management advisor who alleged that she was fired because of her age and gender has been awarded $9.7 million in damages by a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration panel.
Cinda Collins, who had spent more than 26 years at RBC in Minneapolis and has been recognized by Forbes as a top advisor, claimed RBC fired her in November 2019 because she was nearing retirement, making it possible for the firm to steal much of her book of business without compensating her.
Her attorney, Joseph W. Anthony of the Minneapolis-based law firm Anthony Ostlund Louwagie Dressen & Boylan P.A., called it the largest award ever granted to a financial advisor in Minnesota.
The three-member Finra panel awarded Collins $9.65 million: $6,071,847 in compensatory damages tied to violations of Minnesota's human rights law, $2 million in punitive damages, $1.4 million in attorney fees and $164,216 in other costs. RBC also must pay 10% each year from five days after the award until the total sum is paid off, the panel ruled.
The panel denied Collins's request that the reason for her termination be changed to "termination without cause" in her U5.
“We are disappointed in and disagree with the panel’s decision," RBC spokeswoman Kris Herberg said in an email. “At RBC, we value diversity and inclusion, we do not tolerate unlawful discrimination, and we maintain a workplace culture where all employees are respected and treated fairly.”
Anthony, who represents Collins, said in an email that the award sends “a clear message to the financial services industry that confident and hard charging women cannot and should not be discriminated against because of their age or their gender.”
“The award, which we believe to be the largest given to a financial advisor in Minnesota, vindicates Ms. Collins and demonstrates that she was retaliated against by RBC," he said. "The $2 million-dollar punitive damages award will, hopefully, signal to other firms that ageist, sexist, defamatory and discriminatory practices are not going to continue to be business as usual in the financial services industry."
Anthony said that RBC had accused Collins of retaliating against a recently hired case assistant who had gone on maternity leave, which proved to be false. “Unfortunately, RBC didn’t follow its own policies in doing a fair and thorough investigation, or in advising Ms. Collins of the alleged allegations or in giving her a fair opportunity to respond before firing her. When the real facts came out at the hearing, it became abundantly clear that the evidence showed the allegations to be false and the ‘investigation’ of the alleged allegations to be flawed,” he said.
Collins, who has been with Wells Fargo since June 2019, declined to comment. She first registered in the industry in 1987 with Norwest Investment Services, according to BrokerCheck. She joined RBC predecessor Dain Rauscher in 1992 and RBC in 1998.
She was No. 47 on this year’s Forbes Top Women Wealth Advisors Best-in-State list, and No. 109 last year on the publication’s Best-In-State Wealth Advisors list. She also appeared on the Best-in-State Wealth Advisors list in 2019 while she was with RBC.