Two financial advisors who said they were wrongfully terminated from USAA Financial Advisors were awarded $1.8 million by a Finra arbitration panel.
The advisors, Christopher Johnson and Lee Anne Przybyla, had alleged defamation, wrongful termination, breach of contract, tortious interference and negligent supervision and retention, according to Finra.
Each of the advisors was awarded $350,000 for punitive damages, according to Finra. For compensatory damages, Johnson was awarded $500,000 and Przybyla was awarded $350,000.
They also were awarded $250,000 for attorneys' fees.
The arbitration award is one of the largest by Finra this year arising out of an employment dispute and includes one of the largest punitive awards in several years, according to the plaintiffs' attorney.
The advisors were terminated by San Antonio, Texas-based USAA in May 2017.
The two certified financial planners were among five others who filed a statement of claim at the same time against USAA for the same purported reasons, according to information from Finra's Office of Dispute Resolution. The remaining cases are scheduled for arbitration hearings later in 2019 and 2020, after several motions to separate the proceedings into seven separate arbitrations.
Johnson and Przybyla said their wrongful termination from USAA was for practices related to the preparation and publishing of financial plans, according to Finra. They further alleged that they were high-performing, highly compensated financial advisors, and as a result of the separation, they have been financially devastated and unable to secure equivalent employment.
In addition to the $1.8 million award, the panel recommended the advisors records be changed to indicate they left USAA through “voluntary resignation” rather than “involuntary termination.”
In a prepared statement, George Miller, an attorney representing the advisors, said, “We are pleased for our clients, who had the courage to stand up and fight after they were wrongfully terminated, defamed and treated as scapegoats for the firm’s own internal failures ... No amount of money can compensate the claimants for what they went through, but our hope is the award will help them move on and restart their careers, and send a clear and loud message to USAA that it cannot treat its employees in this manner."
USAA Financial Advisors did not immediately respond to a request for comment.