LPL Financial severed ties with affiliated adviser Eileen Cure after she allegedly demanded “no Blacks” while seeking job applicants. The ensuing fallout has caused the young woman who exposed Cure to flee to an undisclosed location for her safety.
Cure, president of Cure & Associates in Nederland, Texas, was fired from LPL following the allegations of racist hiring practices, the firm confirmed on Aug. 4.
“Following our process for review of adviser conduct, Ms. Cure is no longer a client of the firm,” an LPL spokesperson said in a statement. Cure had been affiliated with LPL since 2018.
News of Cure’s termination came after a viral TikTok posted on July 26 by user Denise Bradley, who goes by @auntkaren0, included a screenshot of a Skype message allegedly sent by Cure in which she said she did not want to consider Black people for an open position.
The message attributed to Cure reads, “also i wanted to tell you i specifically said no blacks..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, a TikTok user with more than a million followers who often posts videos exposing racist behavior, reportedly received the messages from a staffer at Cure’s office. The video has been viewed 1.6 million times.
Cure told InvestmentNews that the allegations are “false and defamatory” and that she and her employees have faced death threats as a result of the controversy.
“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. 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,” the statement said.
On Aug. 5, Bradley claimed on Twitter that she has learned Cure’s husband has made threats against her life in the aftermath of his wife’s termination. Bradley said she was concerned for her safety and would be taking steps to protect herself.
Then on Aug. 6, Bradley stated that she had moved to an undisclosed location and shared the link to a GoFundMe page that has raised more than $25,000. The money will be used in the case that Bradley must defend herself in a legal battle after Cure threatened to take legal action against her.
Bradley recently posted a video of herself at a gun shop with the caption “I will protect myself.” She said she has not been served any documents regarding a lawsuit.
