Morgan Stanley on Thursday sued one of its former longtime client financial advisers at its Palmdale office, alleging she had access to more than $100 million in customer accounts and took 90 percent of the files she managed to a competitor.
The financial firm filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Nadia Dickinson, alleging conversion, violation of state trade secret laws, breach of loyalty and unfair competition.
The suit seeks unspecified damages, as well as an injunction preventing Dickinson from disclosing any information in Morgan Stanley client records and to return any records that she allegedly took with her.
Dickinson could not be immediately reached.
The lawsuit states Dickinson was hired by Morgan Stanley in 1984. She abruptly quit Sept. 23 and took a similar position with NFP Securities Inc., the suit states.
Dickinson had access at Morgan Stanley to such client data as birth dates and Social Security numbers as well as general contact information, according to the complaint.
“This information was entrusted to Morgan Stanley by its clients with the expectation that it would remain confidential and would not be disclosed outside of Morgan Stanley under any circumstances,” the suit says.
While at Morgan Stanley, Dickinson was able to review about $98.4 million in client financial information and earned $450,000 in commissions from September 2013 through this August, according to her former employer.
Morgan Stanley “expended significant resources” on training Dickinson, and the relationships she developed with the firm’s clients were “developed at great expense to Morgan Stanley,” according to the complaint.
Morgan Stanley and NFP are both signatories to a security industries agreement that prohibit financial advisers from taking client documents or other information from the firm they depart, the suit states.
— City News Service