The Worst Sexual Harassment Case Ever?

A sexual harassment case was filed in late 2022 in federal district court in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the facts of that case are among the worst I’ve ever seen in all my years of practice.  The case is  Renee Zinsky v. Michael Russin, Russin Financial, Russin Group, Simon Arias, III, Arias Agencies, S.A. Arias Holdings, LLC, American Income Life Insurance Company, W.D. Pa. 2:22cv00547 (MJH) (filed 11/1/2022). 

The allegations levied reflect a level of workplace toxicity within the life insurance industry that is more dangerous than what has been reflected in the movies “The Boiler Room” and “The Wolf of Wall Street” - proving that truth can be stranger than fiction!  

A recent article about this case, published in Insider magazine, stated, “The lawsuit describes a culture of abuse at a workplace that operated without guardrails. Agents at Arias, like those at many life insurance agencies, are treated as independent contractors, not employees. Contractors aren't covered by federal laws protecting employees from discrimination and harassment, and they fall outside state laws that require sexual harassment training for employees. It's a structure that may have helped Arias, and the industry as a whole, escape the wave of accountability sparked by #MeToo.” 

Ms. Zinsky, the plaintiff, and 14 other former agents described Arias Agencies as a cesspool of sexual harassment, violence, and drug abuse — particularly at the headquarters in Wexford, Pennsylvania. They also alleged heart-breaking instances of customer abuses and fraud.   

The complaint describes the open use of cocaine, steroids, male enhancement drugs, and other controlled substances — a culture of male aggression unlike any I’ve ever seen.  This includes comments referring to women’s breasts in front of colleagues and comparing women to dog puke. The complaint alleges that senior managers called men in the office "studs" and "stallions,"; women were called "sluts," "bitches," and "whores." 

Zinsky’s complaint alleges that her manager Michael Russin would talk about his erections during company meetings; once, she said, she was driving colleagues back from a business meeting when he began to have sex with a female subordinate in the backseat. The rest of the allegations are too numerous, and too salacious, to mention. 

It seems apparent that those in charge throughout the chain knew for years about the sexualized culture, drug abuse, violence and assaults, and tactics being used to sell policies – but no one did anything as the money just kept rolling in. In fact, the top salesmen, including Arias and Russin, were rewarded. 

The case was moved to arbitration, so it won’t be easy to follow what happens next.  I hope the outcome will be to bring enhanced accountability to independent contractors so they, too, will have the legal duty to provide a safe workplace for their workers of any gender.