Ex-Advisor Group recruiter accuses firm of gender-based discrimination

The former senior vice president of recruiting at Osaic's SagePoint Financial alleged the firm paid her less than male counterparts and retaliated against her for complaining about it.

In a gender-based discrimination and harassment lawsuit filed in the federal court of Des Moines, Iowa, Genevieve Sisco said that the company previously known as Advisor Group paid her tens of thousands of dollars less than men in the same position were making and abruptly fired her last year after she made her concerns known to upper management. Sisco, who worked for the firm for 14 years and now works as a business development executive at rival Cetera Financial Group, also accused ex-SagePoint CEO Jeff Auld of sexually harassing her and having an affair with his eventual replacement in the top role, Desireé Sii.

Large wealth management firms often face discrimination lawsuits, which display how the lack of representation of women and minorities among the ranks of financial advisors and executives can create toxic work environments for those who do find success in the industry. At Phoenix-based SagePoint, Auld "frequently talked about Sisco's breasts, referring to them as 'the girls,'" according to Sisco's lawsuit. He was one of several executives that she told about a disparity in her pay as compared to men in the same role at other brokerages in the Advisor Group network, she said. She believes the firm fired her in retaliation, according to the lawsuit.

"Sisco and her team consistently identified qualified candidates, including successfully leading recruiting efforts during multiple transitions in company ownership," the lawsuit said. "She received overwhelmingly positive feedback for her performance. Unfortunately, the company did not reward Sisco's success as it would have if she were a man. In 2019, Sisco learned that one of her male counterparts had a base salary that significantly exceeded her pay even though they had the same role. Sisco repeatedly complained, to no avail, about the pay disparity throughout 2019, 2020 and 2021. She also complained, throughout her time as SVP of recruiting, that the company was underpaying her direct reports, many of whom are women and people of color, relative to their white and male peers."

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AdvisorHub first reported the lawsuit, which Sisco filed on Aug. 30 after receiving notices from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Iowa Civil Rights Commission of her right to sue her former employer.

"Osaic has a long and well-established track record for promoting gender diversity across our organization, as reflected by the fact that more than 40% of our executive team is comprised of women leaders," Osaic Executive Vice President of Marketing and Communications Jen Roche said in an emailed statement. "As we take any claim of this nature seriously, Ms. Sisco-Hodges' claims were thoroughly investigated and found to be without merit. As such, we categorically reject the assertions in this legal action, which are simply untrue. We intend to vigorously contest this action, and we are confident that we will prevail."