Eileen Cure, a financial advisor who was under investigation after she allegedly told her team she did not want to interview black job applications for an open position in her office, has been let go by the company.
"Following our process for review of adviser conduct, Ms. Cure is no longer a client of the firm," a spokesperson for LPL Financial said in a statement on Twitter.
Cure, who was a registered broker and advisor at LPL Financial and its affiliate Cure and Associates in Nederland, Texas, went viral after TikTok user @auntkaren0 posted a video last week claiming Cure refused to hire black candidates for a CPA vacancy in the company.
'I Specifically Said No Blacks'
In video posted on July 27, Bradley branded Cure the "racist of the day" and shared a screenshot of a Skype conversation that was apparently sent to her by one of Cure's employees. The image appears to show Cure allegedly reprimanded the team for setting up an interview with a black individual.
"I wanted to tell you i specifically said no blacks," the message read, "I'm not a prejudice person, but our clients are 90% white and i need to cater to them...so that interview was a complete waste of my time...so please don't second guess me or go against what i ask...listen to me and give me what i ask for please." Bradley posted a series of follow-up videos to share updates on the controversy.
In the wake of the racism row, LPL financial said in a statement that it had "seen the video alleging discriminatory comments by Ms. Cure" and launched "an internal investigation to review the matter." "We will not tolerate discrimination of any kind in our LPL community," the company added in its statement, as previously reported.
Cure Denies Allegations, Claims Accusations are 'False' and 'Defematory'
Cure has called the TikTok videos "false and defamatory" and said the allegations have spurred threats of violence and bodily harm against her and her staff in a statement to InvestmentNews.
"The entirety of this situation is based upon a TikTok video published by an unrelated individual without press credentials or affiliations using an unauthenticated photo of an alleged internal office chat without validation or context of any content," the statement read.
"This published photo and along with subsequent related false and defamatory materials and statements, which have incited false commentary and threats of violence and bodily harm toward me and my staff and acts which are being investigated as criminal in nature, are being publicized on a social media platform by a third party who is not related or in any way affiliated with me or my office," Cure noted.
"Additional third parties who are utilizing these TikTok posts for further publication appear to be doing so without further investigation or validation," Cure continued. "In response to this situation, I have taken all necessary action to protect the safety and security of employees, clients, and parties related to my business."
