A former executive for a Wintrust-owned financial management and advisory firm has sued his former employers, claiming he was wrongly fired after he allegedly revealed attempts by his superior and a portfolio manager to improperly cover up an error they allegedly made in managing a relatively large mutual fund.
On April 13, Andrew Sidebotham filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court against Wintrust Financial Corporation and Great Lakes Advisors LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Wintrust.
In the complaint, Sidebotham alleges he was fired from his position as director of operations at Great Lakes Advisors for allegedly refusing repeated attempts by others within the company, allegedly including GLA’s chief operating officer, to persuade him to alter the calculation on an allegedly key account within the firm’s overall investment strategy composite.
The requests were allegedly made in an attempt to cover up mistakes the COO and a portfolio manager had made, in allegedly failing to properly execute a $6 million redemption in a mutual fund. According to the complaint, the redemption was made too late, and resulted in a smaller return than would have been reaped if the redemption had been “executed … at the proper time.”
This allegedly resulted in a “substantial loss” to the fund, “which in turn caused a material drop in the account’s overall performance.” That account allegedly accounted for about half of GLA’s investment strategy’s assets, according to the complaint.
According to the complaint, Sidebotham then refused to remove the account from GLA’s investment strategy composite calculation, which “is used in marketing and advertising materials to promote the company and its services.” Such a removal would have allegedly “falsely and artificially boosted the calculation and materially misrepresented Defendant’s performance and services.”
The removal further would have resulted in violations of federal and state laws, according to the complaint.
After repeated attempts to persuade and then force Sidebotham to remove the account, Sidebotham allegedly revealed the removal requests to others within and outside Wintrust and GLA, the complaint said, allegedly including a former auditor for Wintrust.
The complaint asserts those requesting the removal “ultimately backed away from the unethical and unlawful plan.” But they ultimately fired Sidebotham in November 2020, allegedly claiming “his job had been eliminated.” The complaint asserts that “explanation is … simply a pretext for retaliation.”
Sidebotham claimed his termination was illegal retaliatory discharge and violated the Illinois Whistleblower Act.
Sidebotham is seeking wages and back pay, as well as unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, statutory penalties, and attorney fees.
Sidebotham is represented in the action by attorneys Erika Pedersen and Jill Weinstein, of the firm of Pedersen & Weinstein LLP, of Chicago.
Wintrust did not reply to an email from the Cook County Record seeking comment.