Morgan Stanley’s former diversity chief is suing company

During Marilyn Booker’s 26-year career at Morgan Stanley, including 16 years as the bank’s global head of diversity, she often thought that too few of its employees were black. She was trying to rectify the situation, right up until the morning in December when she was fired.

Booker, who is black, is now suing Morgan Stanley and her former boss, Barry Krouk, chief administrative officer for the wealth management division, for racial discrimination and retaliation. She believes she was fired because she pushed too hard to get senior executives in that division to embrace her plan to restructure a program for training black financial advisers. She thought the restructuring would help more recruits succeed.

Racial discrimination suits against Wall Street banks are not new. Within the last 15 years, nearly every major bank has settled a class action suit for tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars. But Booker is one of the highest-profile black employees to pursue legal action against a bank in recent years.

Booker joined Morgan Stanley in 1994 to become the bank’s first global head of diversity, a high-ranking job within the human resources department. She was the public face of the bank’s efforts to diversify, representing it at a hearing in Congress on diversity at big banks and making TV appearances. In 2011, she moved to the firm’s wealth management arm, where she started a group, Urban Markets, which sought to win more black money management clients and help black communities build wealth — a role she held until she was fired.

At first, Booker tried to handle her separation from the firm quietly. But this month, as she watched the nationwide protests over police brutality and the widespread inequality that black Americans endure, she decided it was time to speak up. Her lawyers filed suit Tuesday in federal court in Brooklyn, N.Y.

“My story is the same story as those of many black people on Wall Street,” she said in an interview. “Our fate has been tied to the goodness of whatever white person is in charge. That is no way to have a career.”

Mary Claire Delaney, a spokeswoman for Morgan Stanley, said the bank strongly rejected the allegations and would defend itself “in the appropriate forum.”

“We are steadfast in our commitment to improve the diversity of our employees and have made steady progress — while recognizing that we have further progress to make,” Delaney said.