Ex-Managing Director Ravich Sues TCW Over Firing ‘for Cause’

TCW Group Inc. was sued by former group managing director Jess Ravich, who claims the asset manager made up grounds to fire him following a sexual harassment accusation in order to deny him tens of millions of dollars.

The lawsuit Ravich filed Tuesday in New York state court comes months after TCW sued him, seeking to recover millions of dollars it said his “pervasive” sexual misconduct cost the firm, including the settlement of one of Wall Street’s first major #MeToo cases. TCW said Ravich lied to the firm about his relationships with portfolio manager Sara Tirschwell, who sued the firm in 2018, and another female employee.

In his suit, Ravich said TCW contrived to fire him “for cause” despite having “vindicated” him in three probes that found “no evidence he had committed any acts of sexual harassment.” He claims TCW then withheld severance, denied him a promised $6.5 million bonus for 2018 and, through an affiliate, improperly “redeemed” equity units worth $32 million from a partnership intended to benefit Ravich’s children.

TCW, which manages around $200 billion, didn’t have an immediate comment on Ravich’s suit.

Tirschwell’s suit claiming she was fired in retaliation for complaining about harassment by Ravich received widespread attention as an example of the #MeToo movement spreading to the financial industry. Ravich, a Wharton and Harvard Law School graduate, was previously a high-yield trader at Drexel Burnham Lambert and also held senior positions at Jefferies Financial Group Inc. and Houlihan Lokey Inc. before joining TCW in 2013 as head of alternative products.

TCW settled with Tirschwell in May 2023, just before her suit was headed for trial. Ravich separately settled with her.

In his suit, Ravich claims then-TCW Chief Executive Officer David Lippman, a former Drexel colleague and longtime friend, was supportive of him until a New York Times reporter contacted the firm about a story that would focus on Tirschwell’s allegations and TCW’s “frat-like” culture.

According to the suit, the CEO then “hatched a plan to shift the media’s focus from Lippman’s toxic leadership and caustic corporate culture to Ravich.”

Ravich claims he was subsequently given a “point-blank” choice in May 2019 — either accept $3.5 million in severance, resign and settle the Tirschwell litigation out of his own pocket, or be fired “for cause” and lose more than $40 million in cash and stock. He said he was fired about a month later.

Ravich said another “cause” given by TCW for his firing was that his claimed $6.5 million bonus was an improper request for additional incentive payments out of program set up with Carlyle Group when it invested in TCW in 2013. He denied any link between the bonus and the Carlyle program.

The case is Ravich v TCW LLC, New York State Supreme Court, New York County.