A former creative director with Mariner Wealth Advisors alleged in a new lawsuit that a supervisor forced him out as part of a broader push to hire younger workers at the expense of their older peers.
Damon Scruggs filed his suit in Kansas federal court this week, accusing Mariner of age discrimination. In the complaint, he says he’s seeking the pay he purportedly lost out on, as well as additional emotional distress and punitive damages.
According to the complaint, Scruggs was in his mid-50s and began working for Mariner in 2014. His LinkedIn profile indicates he was a senior creative manager with the firm, operating out of its Overland Park, Kan. headquarters.
In his profile, Scruggs writes that he led an “in-house creative team,” creating and implementing brand strategies and development and ensuring the brand meets quality and regulatory standards.
According to the complaint, in February 2024, Kathryn Anastasio became Scruggs’ manager, and he alleged she began forcing individuals in their 50s out of the company as “part of a shift toward a younger workforce” (Scruggs counted at least three other similarly-aged employees who were fired before Scruggs lost his job).
According to Scruggs, Anastasio would exclude him from project meetings he needed to attend to do his job. At the same time, supervisors gave some of his responsibilities to younger employees.
In May, Anastasio allegedly threatened to report Scruggs to “upper management” because of her disappointment with a project he’d completed. Scruggs also said she told him he was a “bad leader” after he made an allegedly “derogatory comment” about poor communication within the company (Scruggs maintains he didn’t make that comment).
Overall, Scruggs said Anastasio was trying to make him look like a bad employee and was “looking for reasons” to fire him because of his age.
In April and July of that year, Scruggs had to take some time off for cases of shingles and COVID-19, respectively, but Anastasio reportedly told him in a one-on-one meeting that she “did not like excuses.”
In August, Scruggs learned the company was eliminating his position, but Mariner allegedly posted his job for potential hires shortly after. According to the complaint, Scruggs was fired about six months after Anastasio became his manager (after nearly 10 years at the company). Mariner declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Earlier this month, an Ohio federal court dismissed Mariner’s lawsuit against Savvy Advisors, alleging that the company poached advisors without caring whether the new employees violated contractual demands. A Savvy spokesperson lauded the decision, arguing the firm opposed restrictive covenants for advisors, saying they should be “free to make career decisions that reflect their best interests and those of their clients.”
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