PE with 10-15B AUM - Associate Offer Rescinded
Hi WSO Members,
I'm currently a restructuring banker and I received an offer to join a PE w 10-15B in AUM in the US. Our deal experience somewhat overlapped, and after 14 interviews, case study, etc., I got the offer. They even pushed me for references from my current firm. The references were great, as I've always been top bucket and very kind/helpful to everyone. The fund rescinded the offer just 1h after I made what I thought was a miniscule disclosure to an HR rep I never spoke to before (technically a disability, I made it b.c I require a 1h a week accommodation). It was tough to get this offer and now I'm thinking of crawling back to my current firm saying it didn't work out. It's really discouraging because the headhunters said I was the front-runner the entire time, and the other new hires are all from top Rx groups. I'm happy for the kid who's about to get that rare email for another round.
Not sure if anyone here has experienced this before or has advice. Happy to DM you. I have detailed documented evidence of everything, but not sure if it's worth pursuing this in any way. I sacrificed my entire summer (>2mo) in this process, and not only do I have nothing to show, but the situation with my current firm has been damaged as they had high hopes I'd stick around. Thanks everyone.
EDIT: Since people are saying I'm 'not telling the whole story:' the disability (protected status under ADA) is alcoholism and the accommodation is making a meeting at least once per week. Have many years sober (>5yrs) and sometimes need to make a meeting or commitment. My current firm and prior firm have had no problem accommodating. I interviewed many law firms and all of them have followed up (most email every day) to hire them on contingency (some even brought their fee split from 40 to 30). Of course, no amount of money will satisfy the damage, and I have to consider taking this to court.
Not really sure how it could be considered wrongful by the firm or discrimination without knowing what you mean by "disability." Also, since you technically never signed anything they can essentially do whatever they want at the risk of reputational damage, but if the firm is a 10-15B PE Firm, they must do good work so they'll have no problem hiring and likely don't care. Sorry you're in this situation, but I don't really know what documented evidence would do for you unless you wanted to wage some sort of legal battle that you won't win and will cost you. I've never experienced this but have heard of offers getting rescinded from people not being truthful during interviews, etc. I'm curious to hear what you disclosed
Thanks for the update, and was never questioning if what you said was true just couldn’t really give help without more detail. It honestly sounds pretty wrong what they did, legal or not, but I’m not qualified to be giving legal advice. Look, at the end of the day, it’s sad but I’m sure this has happened before to someone. Your choice to get advice from lawyers and possibly take legal action may be justified but it comes down to if you have the financial resources to pursue it. If you’ve got a trust fund waiting for you then maybe it makes sense, but what will that accomplish. I have several relatives that suffer from alcoholism so I feel for you, but even if you call them out it’s not like its somewhere you’d want to work anyway. Pretty fucked by them though
1. Would’ve never disclosed alcoholism
2. Would def sue assuming what you’re saying is correct and it is a protected disability - f them
You never disclose anything until after your offer bro. come on now. Swallow the loss and move on but now you know.
Honestly, for the sport of it, I want to see blood, please sue them and report back
you should’ve never told them anything. i simply cannot fathom a fact pattern where disclosing this made sense. even if they found out after you started, it would be virtually impossible for them to fire or reprimand you on that basis. assuming your performance remained strong. but since you brought it up before, you made it far easier for them.
no use crying over spilled milk, however.
i do not suggest pursuing a lawsuit. the firm definitely won’t make it easy for you to prove a discrimination claim. your lawyer would have to do tons of depositions and sopeana/review lots of emails. you’d be in court for years. but even if you could, what are your damages? if you can stay at your current firm, you probably haven’t lost much $ as a result. but the downside is that you could become unhireable.
i suggest learning from your grossly excessive candor and moving on. sorry.
Not sure why so many people are telling you to stand down. I might understand it from an emotional perspective (it’s not worth the time/money, etc.) but I can’t believe people are clowning you for disclosing a disability protected by the ADA. That’s so beyond messed up and nobody should go though that. In today’s age any amount of flak on social media (either publicly or disclosed privately via financial news sites) will get firms to cave in an instant. You sound like a really smart and capable person and I’m sure you’ll be fine regardless, but don’t take this lying down. This is incredibly awful legally and ethically for the PE firm, and I encourage you to do everything you can in your power to fight back. It takes individual sacrifices (that I myself will likely never have to make), but it’s what we need to make sure that companies/recruiters don’t think it’s ok to discriminate in the future. Think about a future kid in your shoes. I don’t think you’d want anyone to lose out on an opportunity just because of a disability. If you have the energy, I strongly support you taking up the cause and showing these firms that someone with a disability is worth hiring. You already proved that even with this disability you’re the best person for the job already. You’re already plenty qualified enough; anyone can and should see that!
Hey mate. I'm really sorry this happened to you. I work at a distressed shop where a couple guys, including the founding partner, know Bill. DM me. Although I'm not a lawyer, depending on how well documented your communications were (and how closely you can connect the recension with your disclosure), you should pursue this hardcore and you shouldn't settle for a token amount. I don't know the facts, and assuming everything you're saying is true, this is a fairly big deal / case. The damages are emotional, reputational, etc. Punitive damages for emotional distress carry guidelines depending on the state with some reaching well into the hundreds of thousands or millions. Try to research and ask the lawyers. I would pursue this in the federal system, and maybe even the local or state courts depending on where you are, since it sounds like they violated dozens of local and state laws too... I certainly wouldn't hold it against you if this case appears or is disclosed when you get an offer, and I certainly wouldn't hold your disability against you. That is disgusting. I believe the bigger shops would concur.
Please don't ever say/disclose alchoholism... you can say you have treatment once a week and say you'd rather not disclose. They can't force you. But based on the info provided, it's reasonable for them to assume you have a problem that could impact performance on the job.
The only difference between this dude and probably half the senior partners is he was able to admit he had a drinking problem and stopped
Biggest risk to the firm is that this gets out and other people who worked or interviewed there have similar claims. From this perspective, the firm has a lot of incentive to avoid a lawsuit or public disagreement here.
For those saying don’t do anything, you realize OP likely has a chain of emails that basically go offer letter > disclosure of ADA disability > offer rescinded right?
Do you guys know how shitty that looks and how easy it is for people to understand what the firm did? This isn’t something that is based on an anonymous claim or a he said / she said situation.
Thanks for everyone's comments! I've decided to file the lawsuit and will keep everyone posted as soon as the details are made public! If I don't draw the line, people like this will continue to get away with blatant discrimination and the violation of others' rights. I also don't intend to stick around the industry much longer so I'm not worried about the fallout. I'm not supposed to discuss the case, but if you're a journalist out there interested in this story and think it'd be helpful for your reader base, drop a note and we can potentially discuss it in the proper way at the proper time.