Former Carson Group marketing executive drops lawsuit

Weeks after a federal judge had stayed the proceedings, the former chief marketing officer of Carson Group, who accused the firm of discrimination and retaliation, dropped the lawsuit.

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Under a joint agreement for dismissal on Dec. 26 between Mary Kate Gulick and Omaha, Nebraska-based Carson, the Nebraska District Court tossed the case “with prejudice with each party to bear their own attorneys’ fees and costs,” the filing stated. Gulick’s April 2024 lawsuit alleged that the company violated civil rights laws against gender- and disability-based discrimination in its handling of a sexual assault at an industry conference two years earlier. Carson denied the allegations and later accused her of falsely inflating her medical distress. In November, Jacqueline M. DeLuca paused the case, pending a hearing on Carson’s filing.  

Gulick has “decided to dismiss her lawsuit and move on, focusing on her family and her career in the new year,” Andrew J. Wilson, a lawyer from the Wilson Puk law firm who represented Gulick, said in an emailed statement to Financial Planning. 

Carson Group has “consistently denied Ms. Gulick’s allegations” and asked for dismissal in July based on “numerous alterations to Ms. Gulick’s medical records used in the lawsuit,” representatives for Carson said in a statement.

“Following our request to the Court, Ms. Gulick’s original lawyers withdrew from the case,” the company said. “Ms. Gulick has since acknowledged that she altered her medical records prior to producing the records in the lawsuit. Ms. Gulick has made the decision to withdraw her lawsuit, seeking its dismissal with prejudice. Ms. Gulick is receiving no financial payment from our firm or any related entity and has agreed to repay Carson for a portion of our costs. We are satisfied with this resolution and look forward to focusing all our resources on our advisors, their clients and our employees.”

Gulick’s lawyer didn’t address the accuracy of the company’s version of those events, but two others withdrew from representing the plaintiff in the case in August. The allegations in the lawsuit had rocked the industry last year, since Carson is one of the largest registered investment advisory firms and it was going through a simultaneous transition from the company’s founder, Omani Carson (formerly known as Ron Carson), to its current CEO, Burt White. 

Carson, which has more than 650 financial advisors and 54,000 clients with tens of billions in assets, had unveiled that transition the same month Gulick’s case moved from state to federal court. The filing included chat screenshots that displayed White making disparaging statements about Carson, and, subsequently, several members of its executive ranks left the firm in 2024.

The case had yet to move forward toward discovery ahead of any potential trial, however, following DeLuca’s Nov. 3 order staying the proceedings. Before the joint motion to dismiss the case, the judge had scheduled an evidentiary hearing for Jan. 8 on Carson’s motion for sanctions of Gulick.

“Defendant’s motion for sanctions alleges plaintiff altered medical records and seeks, among other sanctions, dismissal of her case with prejudice,” DeLuca wrote. “Given the seriousness of the allegations and the sanctions defendant seeks, staying case progression pending a ruling on defendant’s motion promotes judicial efficiency. Moreover, although [the] plaintiff opposes defendant’s motion, she did not explain why a stay is not appropriate.”

Gullick had alleged that the company refused to fire the perpetrator of the assault and later retaliated against her concerns about its conduct and her own medical problems with depression and PTSD. Since leaving the company, she has formed her own wealth management marketing firm and taken contract work with other industry companies, according to her LinkedIn page.