for firing him due to his Persian ethnicity. Merrill Lynch's actions prompted reactions from both the National Iranian-American council, and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. In its June 2008 issue, Diversity Inc. named Merrill Lynch one of the top 10 companies for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender employees, and the seventh-best top company in the US for diversity overall. In 2007, Merrill Lynch was named the second-best company in the US for people with disabilities by Diversity Magazine. As of June 5, 2008, Merrill Lynch has created the West Asian, Middle Eastern and North African (WAMENA) Professional Network to help support and provide additional resources for employees of diverse backgrounds. In May 2008, Merrill Lynch was named the No.1 US company for "Diverse College Graduates" by Diversity Edge magazine, edging out Microsoft for the top spot on the rankings. New Jersey appeals court on August 13, 2008, rendered a ruling against Merrill Lynch in a discrimination lawsuit filed by a gay employee. Market timing settlement In 2002 Merrill Lynch settled for a $10 million civil penalty as a result of improper activities that took place out of the firm's Fort Lee New Jersey office. Three financial advisors, and a fourth who was involved to a lesser degree, placed 12,457 trades for a client Millennium Partners in at least 521 mutual funds and 63 mutual fund sub-accounts of at least 40 variable annuities. Millennium made profits in over half of the funds and fund sub-accounts. In those funds where Millennium made profits, its gains totalled about $60 million. Merrill Lynch failed to reasonably supervise these financial advisers, whose market timing siphoned short-term profits out of mutual funds and harmed long-term investors. 2008 bonus payments Merrill Lynch arranged for payment of billions in bonuses for 2008 performance in what appeared to be "special timing", despite reported losses of $27 billion. These bonuses totalling $3.6 billion were one-third of the money they received from the feds' TARP bailout. See also Broker-dealer Calibuso, et al. v. Bank of America Corp., et al. Credit crunch Global settlement Liquidity crisis Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. v. Dabit, a 2006 Supreme Court case involving securities fraud claims. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. v. Manning, a 2016 Supreme Court case involving naked short selling claims. Merrill Lynch's Application Primary dealers World Wealth Report References Further reading External links Official website Total Merrill Website Merrill Lynch