Court upholds branch office manager's win against Hilliard

A federal judge yesterday denied a request by J.J.B. Hilliard W.L. Lyons LLC to overturn an arbitration award won by a former branch manager at the firm. Judge Susan J. Dlott of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio refused to vacate a June 2009 arbitration award won by the manager, Carlos Reisen Jr., in a Form U-5 defamation case against the firm. The arbitration panel gave Mr. Reisen $516,000 in damages and $115,000 in attorney's fees, and ordered defamatory language removed from his U-5 termination report. The firm had claimed on Mr. Reisen's U-5 that he was involuntarily terminated for "violating his duty of loyalty" to the firm by helping two brokers move to a competitor while Mr. Reisen himself was interviewing with the competing firm, according to court documents. "I'm glad it's over," said Mr. Reisen, now president of his own advisory firm, Ascent Advisors LLC. "I do wish … the process could be a bit speedier," he said. Arbitration decisions "should not be extended for unreasonable reasons." Hilliard has yet to pay him, he said. Losing parties in arbitration can delay making payments while an appeal is pending. Chambers Moore, a spokeswoman for Hilliard, said the firm would appeal the decision. She declined to comment further. Mr. Reisen argued that he was a non-producing complex manager overseeing four Hilliard offices in the Cincinnati, Ohio area. "Not only did the U-5 damage me to the point where no firms would talk to me, but I had no book" of clients, he said. Mr. Reisen, 62, said he's had to build his advisory business from scratch. He now has about $3 million under management.