Dark Side at Fidelity: Women Describe Culture of Bias, Revenge

The trouble for Erika Wesson at Fidelity Investments began with an anonymous email.

“Maybe you can go out there and do another deal where you lose millions. Stupid Bitch!” a copy of the 2008 message reads.

Wesson was then a Fidelity analyst and, by her account, the only woman on its real estate team for institutional investors. The email—sent from a Yahoo account whose address was a crude comment on her anatomy—said she would be fired.

From there things got worse.

Before long, Wesson became embroiled in a years-long discrimination fight with the mutual-fund giant—one that sheds light on new ...