The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit that Ruby Tuesday, Inc. violated federal law by refusing to hire a qualified applicant at its Boca Raton, Florida, location because of his age.
According to the EEOC’s suit, the company declined to hire a qualified applicant with more than 20 years of experience in the food and beverage industry for a general manager position at its Boca Raton restaurant. In response to an inquiry by the applicant as to why Ruby Tuesday declined to hire him, the company informed him it was seeking a candidate who could “maximize longevity.”
Such alleged conduct violates the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). The EEOC filed suit against Ruby Tuesday, Inc. in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Fort Lauderdale Division (EEOC v. Ruby Tuesday, Inc., No. 1:17-cv-21817) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. The suit seeks injunctive relief and compensatory and liquidated damages.
“In the South Florida area, we represent the interests of many different people,” says Michael Farrell, director of the EEOC’s Miami District Office. “Age cannot be a factor in whether or not someone can earn a living.”
WisdomTree has released its Barclays Yield Enhanced U.S. Short-Term Aggregate Bond Fund (SHAG).
The fund seeks to enhance yield by sourcing and reweighting subcomponents
within the short end of the U.S. Aggregate fixed income universe, while
maintaining similar risk characteristics. It has a net expense ratio of 0.12%. The
firm notes that SHAG over-weights credit securities and under-weights
treasuries.
“In a market environment where every basis point counts,
over-weighting treasuries might not be your first stop on the road to income,”
says Kevin Flanagan, senior fixed income strategist at WisdomTree. “SHAG may
serve as a powerful tool for investors seeking to navigate a potential rising
rate environment.”
In a statement, Wisdom Tree noted: “With another potential
rate hike a few weeks away, SHAG offers a solution for investors who wish to
shorten the duration of their fixed income portfolio—particularly if they are
concerned about rising rates—while still focusing on income.”
NEXT: Fidelity
Launches ESG Index Funds
Fidelity Launches ESG
Index Funds
Fidelity Investments has launched two new index funds
focused on sustainable companies. The Fidelity U.S. Sustainability Index Fund
and Fidelity International Sustainability Index Fund will allow investors to contribute
to companies with a positive impact on environmental, social and governance
(ESG) ideals.
The funds offer multiple share classes and are available
directly to individual investors as well as through third-party financial
advisers and workplace retirement plans. These products extend Fidelity’s ESG
offerings, which currently include an actively managed mutual fund—Fidelity
Select Environment & Alternative Energy Portfolio—and Fidelity’s
FundsNetwork program, which provides investors access to more than 100 ESG
funds.
“Launching the ESG funds reaffirms Fidelity’s commitment to
providing our 26 million customers access to a diverse set of investment
vehicles to meet their distinct financial goals,” says Colby Penzone, senior
vice president for Fidelity’s Investment Product Group. “We understand that
some investors may choose to advance specific causes, based upon their own
principles. As a result, we expect the ESG factors used in the new funds to
help many investors better align their personal principles with their
investment objectives.”
Each fund will attempt to replicate the performance of its
respective index, before expenses, by normally investing at least 80% of its
assets in securities included in the index, the firm says. The Fidelity U.S. Sustainability Index Fund will
seek to provide investment results that correspond to the total return of the
MSCI USA ESG Index, a capitalization-weighted index that provides exposure to
companies with high ESG performance relative to their sector peers, as rated by
MSCI ESG Research. MSCI USA ESG consists of large- and mid-cap companies in the
U.S. market.
The Fidelity
International Sustainability Index Fund will seek to provide investment
results that correspond to the total return of the MSCI All Country World Index
(ACWI) ex USA ESG Index, a capitalization-weighted index that provides exposure
to companies with high ESG performance relative to their sector peers, as rated
by MSCI ESG research. MSCI ACWI ex USA ESG consists of large- and mid-cap
companies across 22 developed markets and 23 emerging markets.
The funds will be available in three distinct share classes:
Investor Class, Premium Class and Institutional Class.
NEXT:Envestnet Offering 3(38) Investment Service to TIAA Clients
Envestnet Offering
3(38) Investment Service to TIAA Clients
Envestnet Retirement Solutions (ERS) announced
its customized 3(38) investment management service platform,
Envestnet Fiduciary Advantage, will be available to plan sponsors and advisers
whose retirement plans include TIAA's Custom Portfolios Model Service. The same
3(38) investment management services will be made available to plan sponsors,
or their advisers, that wish to incorporate TIAA's Target Income Models, which
apply Liability Driven Investing (LDI) principles.
"Our arrangement with TIAA will offer fiduciary support
for the broader swath of advisers that wish their plan sponsor clients to take
advantage of TIAA's Target Income Models, but may choose not to take on the
fiduciary responsibility for managing the portfolios themselves," says Robert Bernstein, co-founder and senior
managing director of Envestnet Retirement Solutions. "We are
pleased to provide fiduciary support to plan sponsors using TIAA's innovative
model service given TIAA's long-held respect by industry insiders and the
educators whose retirement plans it serves. We are also proud to help TIAA
enable an even broader community of plan participants across the country to
potentially save more for retirement using its Custom Portfolios Model Service
and Target Income Models."
The Envestnet Fiduciary Advantagepowered by
ERS's institutional-caliber research enables plan sponsors and their advisers
to ensure they are selecting, managing, and reporting plan investments in accordance
with their fiduciary duty, the firm notes. It allows plan sponsors and advisers
to utilize the proprietary, systematic ERS SCORE Methodology to select
plan investments that are in the best interests of participants.
"Plan sponsors and advisers are interested in simple
yet sophisticated default solutions, like our Target Income Models, that focus
on creating retirement income for plan participants," says Dan O'Toole, senior managing director and head
of Institutional Investment Solutions and Research at TIAA. "By offering
3(38) services that provide plans using our custom solutions with fiduciary
support, more institutions and participants will have access to lifetime income
solutions in their retirement plans."