A former high-ranking executive at Houston-based Cornerstone Capital Bank (previously known as Cornerstone Home Lending) filed amended counterclaims this week against the institution, accusing it of engaging in discriminatory practices against him based on his ethnicity, religious beliefs, and national origin.
Manuel Valdes, a former national production manager and regional president for the company, says in the complaint that he faced consistent harassment, discrimination, and retaliation from both Cornerstone CEO Marc Laird and his son, Cornerstone President Adam Laird, and the bank itself.
An attorney for the Laird's and Cornerstone said in an emailed statement that Valdes breach his employment contract with the company.
“On January 9, 2023, Cornerstone fired Mr. Valdes due to various breaches of his fiduciary duties to Cornerstone," Kevin Leyendecker, an attorney, wrote. "Five months later, after the court entered an Agreed Order in which Mr. Valdes affirmed and agreed to the enforceability of his confidentiality, non-solicit and non-competition obligations in his employment agreement, Mr. Valdes sought to undo that agreement when he filed a counterclaim against Cornerstone alleging the company discriminated against him and breached his employment agreement. Three days ago, Mr. Valdes' lawyer called Cornerstone’s lawyer and said Mr. Valdes intended to make those same allegations against Marc Laird and Adam Laird personally but would not do so if the company would pay him millions of dollars and release his confidentiality, non-solicit and non-competition obligations. Cornerstone declined that request. Having done so, Cornerstone and the Lairds continue to look forward to showing, in open court, the evidence that led to his firing and recovering damages it suffered as a result thereof.”
According to the amended complaint, Valdes, who was fired in January, managed a team of 422, and his compensation structure was much lower than other regional presidents.
Valdes, who is Catholic and Mexican, spent 20 years with the company. On one occasion, Laird brought employees to his ranch for a hunt, and every time they reached the gate, Valdes would get out to open it. At the end of the day, he was being called "gate bitch" -- "a highly demeaning slur that referenced the low-status work performed by Latino ranch hands that Marc employed on his ranch."
The complaint, a counterclaim to a lawsuit filed against Valdes, claims Valdes would have earned an additional $8 million in compensation from 2019 through 2021 if his employment contract was similar to those of white regional vice presidents.
Cornerstone, which identifies itself as a “premier national lender,” had originally initiated the legal proceedings against Valdes on Jan. 9, 2023.
The updated legal claim said that after Valdes voiced concerns regarding discriminatory practices, expressed issues about fair lending, and reported sexual harassment incidents on another employee’s behalf, he experienced a retaliatory campaign from the company. Valdes’s allegations culminate in the claim that the bank unjustly terminated his employment and immediately pursued a malicious lawsuit against him.
Events culminating in Valdes's dismissal began in the Autumn of 2022 when he highlighted several instances of discrimination. By October 2022, he had opposed a proposal by Adam Laird that would have favored majority-white counties with better interest rates and fees than those predominantly Latino. Such a policy, in Valdes’s view, contravened fair lending laws. His objections did not end there, as he later reported instances of sexual harassment on behalf of a colleague and highlighted his personal experiences of discrimination.
“Mr. Valdes worked with the utmost loyalty to Cornerstone for nearly 20 years,” said David Tracey of Sanford Heisler Sharp, counsel for Valdes. “Unfortunately, Cornerstone never fully welcomed Mr. Valdes due to his ethnicity, national origin, and religion, and the Company ruthlessly attacked him when he raised legitimate complaints of discrimination and retaliation.”
