For immediate release
PITTSBURGH – Two former employees of PNC Bank allege they were wrongfully terminated in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.
According to a complaint filed in the Western District Court of Pennsylvania, Plaintiffs Susan Flowers and Jonathan McAndrew both worked in the Risk Management Department of PNC Bank. However, according to the complaint, in June 2018, both plaintiffs were transferred to the Finance SEC Reporting Department of the bank. Ms. Flowers and Mr. McAndrews alleged that the new department was comprised almost entirely of younger, newer workers, all under the age of forty, and that their team was reduced in size by half.
According to the complaint, Ms. Flowers and Mr. McAndrew were disregarded by their new co-workers, despite their willingness to go above and beyond to make the arrangement successful. They were often left out of conversations with their new co-workers and frequently had their work insulted, according to the complaint. The plaintiffs alleged that they were actively excluded from the group, but, at the same time, were told that they needed to become active participants in the department.
In January 2019, according to the complaint, the plaintiffs’ team was assigned a project regarding a reporting procedure, where Ms. Flowers was assigned the duty of preparing the report and Mr. McAndrew was required to review it. They alleged that because there was insufficient time to complete the report, Mr. McAndrew prepared the document and Ms. Flowers reviewed it. According to the complaint, both signed off on the document; however, their signatures were in the incorrect locations, with Ms. Flowers’ signature on the preparer’s line and Mr. McAndrew’s signature on the reviewer’s line. According to the complaint, there are regulations in place which dictate that the preparer and reviewer must be separate people, so as to minimize the possibility for abuse. While their signatures were on the lines opposite to the fashion in which the project was completed, the report was prepared in keeping with the regulations and neither person exceeded the scopes of the jobs performed, according to the complaint.
Ms. Flowers and Mr. McAndrew alleged that they were told a second reviewer should verify the report, which they arranged. According to the complaint, they both fully disclosed all processes and roles for the preparation of the report. Despite this, on February 19, 2019, the plaintiffs were terminated. They were told that they committed fraud, despite the fact that all regulations were complied with and at no point did either person conceal the process by which the report was successfully completed, according to the complaint.
Lead Attorney Sean Ruppert alleged in the complaint that PNC used the incident as an excuse to terminate the two oldest workers in the group after disregarding them failed to get them to leave. The two-count complaint claims a violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act for each Ms. Flowers and Mr. McAndrew.
Prior to the filing of the lawsuit, both Ms. Flowers and Mr. McAndrew filed complaints through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and were provided rights to sue. The lawsuit was filed by Attorney Ruppert on April 14, 2020.
Ruppert Manes Narahari is a Pittsburgh-based employment law firm representing workers who have been wrongfully terminated, harassed, or cheated by their employers. The firm also provides business law-related services and represents small businesses and entrepreneurs in startup, transactional, and litigation matters.
For more information on the claims made by Ms. Flowers and Mr. McAndrew against PNC Bank, contact the law office of Ruppert Manes Narahari at 412-626-5626.
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