An ex-Trader at Credit Agricole alleges Racial Bias at Bank

(Bloomberg) — A former senior trader at Credit Agricole in New York sued the bank alleging he was subject to “stereotypically offensive, overtly racist, and degrading comments” as a Latinx person and denied career advancement and monetary rewards.

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Jose Ruiz, former head of emerging markets foreign-exchange trading at Credit Agricole filed suit Wednesday in Manhattan federal courts. The complaint named as defendants the bank and one of Ruiz’s former managers, Anthony Botting, who was global head of various foreign-exchange trading teams at the time.

Credit Agricole didn’t immediately respond to request for comment. Botting also didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment via his Linkedin page.

According to his suit, Ruiz, a graduate of Dartmouth College and the University of California, Los Angeles’s business school, joined Credit Agricole in 2010 and was promoted to managing director four years later. He previously worked for American Express and Bank of Ireland.

Ruiz claims that, in 2015, he began experiencing “targeted, unfair treatment and discrimination” from the London-based Botting. According to the suit, Botting denigrated Ruiz’s skills and past experience and spoke to him in a “disrespectful and demeaning” manner. Ruiz also claims Botting took Ruiz’s business and gave it two White traders that he hired.

According to the suit Ruiz raised concerns regarding Botting to Credit Agricole’s human resources department in October 2018. Afterwards, he claims he was “ostracized by his colleagues and managers, who stopped inviting him to management meetings, as well as to team dinners and outings.”

Ruiz claims his 2018 bonus was cut from as high at $320,000 in the previous years to $160,000. Ruiz claims he was fired in May 2020 for pretextual reasons.

Ruiz is seeking punitive as well as compensatory monetary damages.

Ruiz v. Credit Agricole 22-cv-10777 US District Court, Southern District of New York.

(Updates throughout with details from suit.

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