Dale Cebert was managing over $400 million for Morgan Stanley Smith Barney when the bank fired him. That wasn’t the only blow. The bank also claimed he had drawn multiple customer complaints and run a side business without approval -- allegations it put on his online employment record for anyone to see.
Insisting those allegations were bogus, Cebert fought back. Arbitrators ultimately found the bank flubbed an investigation of him, was “grossly negligent” and possibly “malicious” in communications with his clients and put inaccurate information in his employment record, according to their ruling. He got a multimillion-dollar award plus something else that’s rare in his business: He got his old employer to clear his record.