According to police reports and a video of the event posted to social media, the police detained a now-former Merrill Lynch broker in Stamford, Connecticut, on Saturday.
This happened after he went on a threatening and discriminatory rant against a group of young employees. The incident took place at a nearby smoothie restaurant. According to a police report, they charged James A. Iannazzo, 48, with bigotry or prejudice intimidation. Moreover, police charged him with breach of peace, and criminal trespass.
The reason for arrest
According to an arrest report from the Fairfield Police Department, he approached shop workers with profanities. Moreover, he tossed a drink at one. He also made remarks about immigration status to another.
Iannazzo started working at Merrill Lynch as a client associate in 1995, according to his old corporate webpage. Furthermore, his company fired him as a result of the incident. “Our firm does not tolerate this sort of behavior,” a spokeswoman said. “We investigated right away and took action.” “Our company no longer employs this person.”
What do the lawyers say?
Frank J. Riccio II, Iannazzo’s Connecticut lawyer, said the broker “wholeheartedly regrets” the situation. He returned to the business after learning that his kid had suffered a serious allergic reaction. “Therefore, Mr. Iannazzo acted out of rage and anxiety”, Riccio wrote. “In other words, he is not a racist.” “He sincerely regrets his comments and actions. He was under great emotional stress.” “I will personally convey my apologies to the Robek’s organization. Especially to the personnel that was working there that night.” Iannazzo said on Sunday.
In addition, someone filmed the incident and published it on Tiktok. It gained millions of views and reactions. Furthermore, many mentioned his position as a managing director at Merrill Lynch.
Similarly, according to media reports, LPL Financial terminated connections with a former broker in August. After a video claiming to show her that she would not interview Black job hopefuls went popular on Tiktok. In a statement, the broker claimed that the film was “false and defamatory.” She stated that she and her team received threats due to its distribution.
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