A former Frost Bank employee has accused the bank of labor violations, unlawful retaliation, defamation, discriminatory conduct, and malicious conspiracy, according to a lawsuit filed last week.
Chad Jones, who was an investment adviser at San Antonio-based Frost from March 2017 to February 2025, named two Frost employees in the lawsuit, alleging that Erik Jackson and Cheryl Johnson “acted in concert to create a false narrative and shield gross incompetence from internal scrutiny.”
Jones, who is representing himself, alleged in the lawsuit that when Johnson handled transactions incorrectly, Jones reported it to Jackson, her direct superior. But Jackson “buried” Jones’ complaint, Jones alleged, and “deliberately failed to record [Jones’] complaints, falsified omission by omission, and left known errors untouched in customer-facing records.”
Jones alleged in the suit that he was “repeatedly silenced, scapegoated, and deprived of a fair investigation," though it is not clear if he means an investigation of his complaints about Jackson or another investigation. He asserted that “Frost’s internal channels failed, not by accident — but by design.”
According to San Antonio news website MySA, Jones also alleged that although employees worked 70 hours per week, Frost navigated around overtime payments; and that the bank did not make appropriate retirement contributions, failed to address human resource complaints and discriminated against Jones.
Jones lost commission and earnings due to misclassification and discriminatory assignment of referrals, he wrote in court documents, and he was denied reimbursements for work-related expenses.
Jones also alleged that Jackson failed to follow bank protocol by allegedly leaving cashier’s checks in unlocked drawers and subsequently losing them, exposing the bank and its clients to “serious financial liability.”
“This case is not about isolated negligence. It is about a methodical, malicious, and systemic attempt by senior personnel within Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. to sabotage a high-performing employee, falsify internal records, mislead regulators, and betray the trust of clients — all while knowingly violating state and federal law,” the lawsuit contends.
Jones has requested $5 million in compensatory damages, as well as an unspecified monetary amount in liquidated damages related to unpaid wages, punitive damages for willful and malicious misconduct, injunctive relief and cost of lawsuit and attorney’s fees.
A spokesperson for Frost Bank declined to comment on pending litigation.
