Ex-Raymond James broker wins back $650,000 award

A former Raymond James Financial Services Inc. adviser who sued the firm for discrimination may finally be able to claim a more than $650,000 arbitration award after a five-year legal tug-of-war.
After having his award overturned in district court last year, Robert Fenyk was able to get the award reinstated Wednesday after a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
A panel of three judges unanimously shot down the district court’s ruling and said the arbitration panel did not exceed its authority in issuing the original award.
“It’s been a long road. There’s no question about that,” said Mr. Fenyk’s attorney, Norman Watts of the Watts Law Firm P.C. “And they did fight it every inch of the way.”
Mr. Fenyk, who ran his own office in Woodstock, Vt., as part of Raymond James’ independent adviser network before he was fired in 2009, had taken his former firm to arbitration in 2011, claiming employment discrimination and retaliation after a supervisor learned of his sexual orientation and his status as a recovering alcoholic from reading an email sent by Mr. Fenyk’s former domestic partner.
Mr. Fenyk, who affiliated with Raymond James in 2001, was making an average of $250,000 per year as an adviser before he was terminated.
In April 2013, the arbitration panel initially granted Mr. Fenyk more than $650,000, around half of what he requested, in back pay and legal expenses, but Raymond James appealed to the district court. The firm argued that the panel had misapplied state law in Florida, where Raymond James is based, and that Mr. Fenyk’s claims were made beyond the one-year statute of limitations on civil rights cases. The district court agreed and vacated the award.
Mr. Fenyk appealed the decision and the appellate panel reversed the district court decision, arguing that the original arbitration panel had, in fact, acted prudently in applying Florida law, and that the claim had not been filed beyond the statute of limitations.
If Raymond James appeals this decision, it would have to go before the U.S. Supreme Court, Mr. Watts said.
A Raymond James spokeswoman, Anthea Penrose, declined to comment.
A Raymond James assistant regional director testified in court that he decided to terminate Mr. Fenyk’s affiliation with Raymond James after becoming concerned “about [Mr.] Fenyk’s ‘ongoing sobriety’ and the possibility that he was transacting business with clients while he had an alcohol problem,” according to the appellate court’s decision.
Mr. Fenyk, who began his career in 1992 with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc., is currently a real estate agent in Princeton, N.J.