A gay financial advisor is
Rickey Bellew Jr. sued LPL and Bank of Springfield in federal court in East St. Louis, Illinois, on Tuesday over charges that they hadn't done enough to prevent sexual discrimination and harassment he suffered while he was employed at the bank from September 2019 to October 2022. Bellew was an independent contractor registered with LPL during those years.
The complaint states that Bank of Springfield President McKenzie Breihan started making crude remarks about Bellew's sexuality shortly after finding out that Bellew was gay. Breihan learned of his orientation when he told her that his boyfriend wouldn't be able to come to a happy hour for employees, according to the complaint.
The suit says Breihan later noted that Bellew liked to eat his lunch at Subway. When he would return from trips to the sandwich shop, according to the complaint, Breihan would often make comments like, "Hey, Rick, did the guy at Subway give you his foot long?" and "Hey, Rick, did he give you his meat today?"
"On another occasion, when Plaintiff Bellew was putting a cooler in a corner on top of his other things, Breihan stated to Plaintiff Bellew: 'Why is yours on top, you must like to be on top, huh?'" according to the suit.
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The lawsuit says Bellew complained about the alleged harassment to his direct supervisor, Brian Brewer, and to his compliance manager, Sarah Moore, who is listed on the bank's website as being
Bellew declined to comment when reached by phone.
Bellew resigned on Oct. 11, 2022, after finding working conditions at the bank unbearable. He later filed discrimination complaints against both LPL and Bank of Springfield with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Illinois Department of Human Rights. The EEOC, which investigates allegations of discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion and sex, issued a decision on June 18 giving Bellew the green light to sue his former employers.
Bank of Springfield representatives did not respond to requests for comment. An LPL spokesperson said, "We take any allegations of sexual harassment or discrimination very seriously. It is important to note, however, that the plaintiff was not employed by LPL as the suit suggests."
Louis Straney, a regulatory expert at
"My guess is that LPL has very little, if any, responsibility in this situation," Straney said. "There is probably going to be some very embarrassing testimony for the bank."
But Bellew's lawyer — Jim Schottel, a civil rights and criminal defense lawyer based in St. Louis — said his client's relationship to LPL comes down to more than whether or not he was technically an independent contractor. Rather than a simple label, "the employee-employer relationship is determined by the terms of the activities a person is performing," Schottel said.
Bellew's suit accuses LPL and Bank of Springfield of violating both federal and Illinois state prohibitions on sexual harassment and discrimination based on a person's sexual orientation. It seeks compensatory damages for the humiliation, mental anguish and other harm Bellew allegedly suffered, as well as punitive damages and reimbursement for attorneys' fees.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's
— This article was updated with a comment from the plaintiff's lawyer.
