A Bank of America managing director has accused her employer of misleading PIMCO and Blackstone, among other clients, in a gender discrimination lawsuit filed Monday.
Megan Messina—co-head of structured credit products—said the bank placed her on “unwarranted and unilaterally imposed forced ‘leave’” following whistleblowing complaints about unethical and illegal behavior by her peers.
In particular, she said that Kavi Gupta, Bank of America’s head of rates trading, “doctored” PIMCO trade documents after erroneously marking up prices.
“PIMCO asked Gupta to confirm in writing what he had told them about prices, and then, in an effort to cover up his material lies and misrepresentations, he doctored the trade blotter document by altering numbers on the blotter to cover up his lies,” the complaint stated.
A spokesperson for Bank of America said the bank disputed the allegations regarding the PIMCO transaction.
Furthermore, Messina accused her co-head David Trepanier of multiple instances of misconduct, including withholding information from clients such as Blackstone and Anchorage while running a collateralized debt obligation (CDO) auction for hedge fund Hildene.
Anchorage said it was “deceived and misinformed by Trepanier, who knowingly provided them with false data,” according to the suit. Blackstone also allegedly complained about Trepanier’s “flawed and cavalier process.”
Though Messina said she acted as a whistleblower and raised concerns about her colleagues’ actions, these complaints “fell on deaf ears.” Additionally, she claims the bank retaliated by “improperly” suspending her.
Messina has sued for $6 million in owed wages.
A spokesperson for Blackstone declined to comment. PIMCO did not respond by time of press.