Agard’s Claims: Transfers, Leave and Lost Commissions
Agard alleged she trained in the affluent Cobble Hill neighborhood before being transferred to a branch in Bedford-Stuyvesant, a historically Black and less affluent area. There, she said, JPMorgan’s internal risk team scrutinized all of her accounts, slowing her ability to build a book of business compared with white advisers stationed in wealthier communities.
As she prepared for maternity leave in 2017, Agard said she worked “up until she went into labor” to close a $1 million account, only to see the entire commission reassigned to another adviser. When she returned, she claimed she was left to rebuild her client base “from the scraps,” a process repeated after another maternity leave in 2019.
Agard also alleged that a 2020 change to annuities commission structures — meant to encourage advisers to sell managed accounts — disproportionately reduced earnings for Black advisers who had been steered toward clients seeking lower-risk investments.
In 2021, after reporting to human resources that a manager had reassigned some of her clients, Agard said she was forced into a remote adviser role with lower total earning potential. Realizing the position would not sustain her family, she said, she left the company in November 2021.
