Morgan Stanley Fires Harold Ford Jr. as an Adviser After Conduct Complaint -- Update
December 07 2017 - 4:13PM
Dow Jones News
By Liz Hoffman
Morgan Stanley has fired former congressman Harold Ford Jr. as a
senior adviser to the firm after investigating a claim of
inappropriate conduct.
A spokeswoman for the Wall Street bank said Mr. Ford had been
fired for "conduct inconsistent with our values and in violation of
our policies." A person familiar with the matter said the firm had
received and verified at least one complaint that he had behaved
inappropriately toward a woman.
A memo at the security desk at the firm's Manhattan headquarters
on Thursday instructed staff not to allow Mr. Ford into the
building.
Mr. Ford joined Morgan Stanley in 2011 as a senior adviser, a
role that typically involves communicating with clients and
appearing at firm events.
Morgan Stanley fired Mr. Ford after investigating a complaint
that he had made inappropriate forcible advances toward a woman
during a meeting several years ago, according to the person
familiar with the matter. The woman didn't work at Morgan Stanley
but met with Mr. Ford in his professional capacity at the firm, and
recently flagged the incident to bank officials, this person
said.
Mr. Ford, whose firing was earlier reported by the Huffington
Post, said in a statement: "This simply did not happen. I have
never forcibly grabbed any woman or man in my life."
He said his accuser is a journalist and that he met her "at the
direction of [Morgan Stanley] for business purposes." A lawyer for
Mr. Ford called his firing "a matter of convenience during a
hyper-sensitive time."
The son of a long-term Tennessee congressman, Mr. Ford served in
the House of Representatives for a decade before running
unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 2006. He worked for Merrill
Lynch and its later parent, Bank of America Corp., before joining
Morgan Stanley.
He also serves as a political analyst for MSNBC. A
representative for MSNBC wasn't immediately available for
comment.
--Peter Rudegeair contributed to this article.
Write to Liz Hoffman at liz.hoffman@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 07, 2017 15:58 ET (20:58 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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