Putnam executives must have their fingers crossed that the old marketing saw is right and that all publicity is good publicity as long as they spell your name right. Last month a female ex-fund manager at the Boston-based fund firm filed a suit charging that she was wrongfully terminated and discriminated against. She is seeking $25 million in damages, reports the Boston Herald.

Lisa Svensson, the former portfolio manager of Putnam's Global Natural Resources Fund, claimed in a lawsuit filed on December 28 in federal court in Boston, that she was fired after complaining to Joshua Brooks that "it was only a matter of time until the SEC started to investigate" what she saw as breaches of fiduciary duties to clients. Brooks was her direct boss at the time.

Copies of the suit are available in two parts here and here.

She also alleges in the suit that Putnam CEO Charles Haldeman made inappropriate remarks to her when they first met on October 31, 2002. She claims that when asked to describe how he invested, Haldeman said he would provide an answer not "vetted by the EEOC" and then described how he would find a 25-year-old woman more attractive than a 53-year-old one.

The suit also alleges that Putnam labeled her as "volatile" after she lobbied for promotions while male collegues making the same push were viewed as "aggressive" and "admirable."

A Putnam spokeswoman said that Putnam strongly denied Svensson's claims.

"Lisa Svensson's departure from Putnam was not related to any form of discrimination and was soley related to job performance. We believe these allegations are without merit and plan to defend against them vigorously," said Putnam.  

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