The head of alternative products at bond fund manager TCW Group has left the firm, a spokesperson confirmed Thursday.
Jess Ravich was also a group managing director at TCW. Last year he was named as a defendant in a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a former colleague at TCW.
A spokesperson for the firm declined to provide details on Ravich’s departure, which was first reported by Reuters on Wednesday.
In the lawsuit, filed in January 2018, Sara Tirschwell — who previously headed the distressed strategy group at the firm — accused Ravich of sexually harassing her and coercing her to have sex with him. The complaint also named TCW’s chief executive officer David Lippman, and TCW itself, as defendants. Ravich denied the charges in a separate court filing.
Tirschwell is seeking at least $30 million in compensatory damages. The suit is still making its way through the New York Supreme Court, the docket shows. Lawyers for Ravich, Lippmann, and TCW did not immediately respond to phone calls seeking comment.
“Tirschwell was dismissed for cause due to repeated, documented violations of firm policy, and had made no complaint of any kind before it was clear she was being dismissed,” Doug Morris, a spokesperson for TCW, told Institutional Investor in an emailed statement at the time. “TCW is proud of its inclusive culture and has a zero tolerance policy for any form of predatory behavior.”
In her complaint, Tirschwell called TCW’s accusations against her a “demonstrably false pretext” for firing her.
[II Deep Dive: TCW Group Denies Sexual Harassment Claims]
Both Tirschwell and Ravich acknowledged in separate court filings that they had engaged in a consensual relationship in 2012, which they both said was disclosed to Lippmann before Tirschwell joined TCW.
In her complaint, Tirschwell alleged that Ravich would host “breakfast meetings” that he set up to discuss business while wearing a white terry bathrobe and making unwanted sexual advances on her. According to that complaint, when Tirschwell stopped the breakfast meetings, she was no longer given resources like marketing support to help her raise capital for her fund. Tirschwell said that she was fired nine days after lodging a complaint with human resources in December 2017.
“Ms. Tirschwell’s litigation complaint filed January 25, 2018, in New York State Court is quite clear about wrongdoings by defendants Jess Ravich, David Lippman — TCW’s chief executive officer — and TCW with respect to Ms. Tirschwell,” a spokesperson for Tirschwell said via email Thursday. “Beyond this, Ms. Tirschwell has no comment.”
For TCW’s part, the firm said in a court filing that Tirschwell was fired because she had a “troubling history of compliance violations predating any complaint of harassment.”
According to a court document, lawyers are expected to wrap up fact discovery by July 2.
