Executive sues Thrivent, saying he was fired because he is black
"I was shocked," said Smith, 56, who has worked at some of the largest insurance companies in the
In a written statement,
"
Thrivent Financial, which manages more than
Smith said he shook things up when he joined Thrivent Independent in
Within months, Smith had laid off about half of his 15-member staff, most of whom quickly found jobs with other
"I was the only person of color when I came in," Smith said in the interview. His lawsuit claims that the presidents of seven other
"
In the interview, Smith said his personnel moves rankled colleagues, including
Despite the friction, Smith said in the lawsuit that he thought Huth was doing an excellent job and approved a promotion for her that came with a 52 percent raise. Smith claimed he told Huth she was a "rock star" and a "valued business partner."
Smith said his new team produced quick results, with the number of new clients climbing from 1,000 to 10,000 in less than a year. He said he also recruited 4,000 new financial representatives. Altogether, Smith said, he was beating his first-year goals by 250 percent, putting him on track for a bonus of
To celebrate, Smith said in the interview, he took his team out for dinner at the
In the lawsuit, Smith said Huth allegedly said to the other worker: "We are going to get rid of that black piece of shit," referring to him. In the lawsuit, Smith said Huth noticed him standing there and looked at him "sheepishly ... apparently scared that he had overheard" the remark.
"I was hurt. I was crushed," Smith said in the interview. "I had been working really hard to win the entire team's confidence."
'Let it go,' he says he was told
"At
In the lawsuit, Smith said he reported Huth's remark to his boss,
The lawsuit says Smith complained again a few weeks later, telling Thomsen that he was having problems with Huth "because I'm black." Thomsen allegedly told him he would take care of the situation.
Instead of taking action against Huth, however, the company launched an investigation of him, Smith said in the lawsuit. First, the company reviewed his expense accounts for improper submissions. Smith was reprimanded in February even though all of the expenses had been "preapproved" by Thomsen, according to the lawsuit. Halunen said Smith was required to pay back
In March or April, another investigation was launched in response to a complaint of retaliation filed by Huth, according to Smith's lawsuit. Smith said the investigation concluded without a finding of wrongdoing on his part.
In June, Smith said he was summoned to the
Smith said in the lawsuit that he later learned
Halunen said Smith was never warned that his performance was unacceptable.
"That would be customary in any business," Halunen said. "The last resort is to put them on a performance improvement plan, and none of this happened. It is very unusual and very suspect."
"What's strange is that if I wasn't performing well, you might be able to say that has something to do with" my firing, Smith said in the interview. "But we were performing at such a high level that at the end of the first quarter, my boss came to me and said, 'I want you to reforecast your plan because you are doing too well -- you guys are going to blow through all of the goals and objectives we had set for you.' "
In the lawsuit, Smith said his race and his reports of racial discrimination were "motivating factors" in his termination.
"The organization just didn't do anything," Smith said in an interview. "And I think that is largely because they don't have any experience with any other senior level
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