Carson Group denies that its founder protected an employee accused of sexual harassment

The lawsuit asks a federal judge in Omaha, Nebraska, to dismiss Gulick’s case and order her to pay legal costs.

Gulick’s lawsuit accused the Carson Group of discrimination and retaliation and said it had a “toxic leadership culture.” Her complaint also said the company’s handling of the alleged assault left her with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. According to her lawsuit, the Carson Group terminated her employment in June 2023.

Gulick’s lawsuit said she attended an industry conference in 2022 and that a Carson Group employee sexually harassed another attendee. Her lawsuit did not name the employee, attendee, or conference. The lawsuit also said the employee was later allowed to travel to another industry conference, which Gulick said “negligently and irresponsibly created unnecessary risk for female employees and conference attendees.”

The Carson Group’s complaint states that a conference attendee alleged “unwanted/non-consensual sexual conduct with a non-executive Carson employee” and that the employee denied the allegation. While the Carson Group was investigating the allegation, the employee “traveled to a single work-related conference and no one at the conference raised concerns about this employee’s conduct.”

According to Carson Group, Gulick disclosed the alleged assault to others, including the defendant’s supervisor, in violation of the company’s written confidentiality policies.

Asked for comment on the legal response, Gulick’s attorney Thomas J. Freeman of the Omaha-based Fiedler Law Firm said in a statement: “We were not surprised by the Carson Group’s response. Mary Kate has spent her entire career advocating for women in the financial industry. We are honored to fight alongside her in this lawsuit against the Carson Group. Because this is still a pending litigation, we believe further comment is inappropriate at this time.”

A Carson Group spokeswoman referred a reporter to the company’s previous statement on Gulick’s lawsuit: “Although we are limited in our ability to comment on pending litigation, we unequivocally deny these allegations and will vigorously defend ourselves against these claims.”

Write to Andrew Welsch at [email protected]