According to a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Sally Hatwig was fired by Bear, Stearns & Co. for revealing that she was half-Latina.

Hartwig, who worked for the firm for about three months, claims she was unfairly criticized about her performance and terminated in July 2004 because of her national origin, according to the lawsuit.

Not surprisingly, the worldwide investment banking and securities trading and brokerage firm is denying the claim.

“We believe this case is completely without merit,” Bear Stearns spokesperson Elizabeth Ventura said. “She was terminated during her probationary period due to poor job performance.”
Ventura said Bear Stearns treats discrimination issues seriously and has procedures in place to hear and act on employee concerns.
“She never expressed an issue of bias while she was an employee here,” Ventura said. “This issue only came up after she was terminated.”

Ever notice how the big corporate firms pull out their Latino spokespeople only when situations like this arise or during National Hispanic Heritage Month? Having worked in the investment banking world, I’m not surprised that there is alleged discrimination against Latinos. At another not to be named investment banking firm negative and stereotypical comments about my Latino background were part of the atmosphere but I don’t think that a huge corporation would be so stupid as to make a termination based strictly on national origin/background.

Via / DiversityInc.