Woman alleges she was demoted in federal civil rights complaint

An Edwardsville woman filed a civil rights complaint against Edward Jones in U.S. District Court Aug. 9, alleging she was demoted and forced to resign after reporting her supervisor's crude behavior.

Chanty Bradley-Brown, an African American female, claims she worked at Edward Jones in Maryland Heights, Mo. from Dec. 1, 2000, until Jan. 23. Her supervisor, Rob Maine, was a white male.

According to Bradley-Brown, she received an evaluation from Edward Jones in October 2005, which characterized her work performance as "outstanding" and having performance results that were "clearly superior and among the best in the division."

After her performance review her salary increased to $82,787.18 from $76,654.80 per year.

Bradley-Brown alleges shortly after Oct. 3, 2005, she became subject to threats of physical harm laced with derogatory racial and gender epithets by Rob Maine.

She claims she began to lodge complaints against Maine and on Oct. 27, was "involuntarily demoted" and transferred to another department.

Bradley-Brown claims her new department was less advantageous because she had less job responsibilities, less fringe benefits, and less opportunity for promotions and wage increases.

She also claims Edward Jones "wrongfully caused" her to take a leave of absence from November 2005 until May 2006 and then forced her resignation on Jan. 23.

"Prior to October 3, 2005 plaintiff had never been subject to any disciplinary action by defendant and her job performance was more than satisfactory," the complaint states.

Bradley-Brown claims she filed a timely complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and on May 17, it issued her a "right to sue" notice.

Bradley-Brown is seeking damages in excess of $75,000 for lost income, lost retirement, lost bonuses, lost fringe benefits and emotional distress.

Represented by Greg Roosevelt of Edwardsville, Bradley-Brown also is seeking punitive damages, attorney fees and costs of the suit.

The case has been assigned to District Judge William Stiehl.