Why DID Morgan Stanley fire Harold Ford, Jr?

NEW YORK (WDEF) – We still don’t know just why Harold Ford Jr. was fired from his job at Morgan Stanley.

The man who lost a Senate race to Bob Corker has spent the last seven years recruiting clients for the financial firm in New York.

But six weeks ago, the company fired him for unspecified misconduct.

It happened after a female business reporter publicly accused him of inappropriate conduct, specifically, grabbing her and trying to pull her into an elevator. She also said he repeatedly asked her to dinner.

But Ford accused both her and the company with slander, threatening to file suit.

After a weekend conference with Ford and his attorneys, Morgan Stanley issued a statement, blaming the media.

“Morgan Stanley would like to clarify the circumstances of Mr. Ford’s departure. We take allegations of inappropriate conduct seriously.”

“The press has reported that Mr. Ford was terminated for sexual misconduct. He was not. We have not received any internal allegations of sexual harassment or misconduct involving him either before or after his separation became public. As previously stated, his separation was based on corporate policy.”

Ford has previously admitted that he was accused by the company of padding his expense account and mistreating employees.

He also denied those allegations.

But neither he, nor the company, will now comment on if that had anything to do with the firing.

Ford is a former Congressman from Memphis and was considered a rising political star in Tennessee before losing a tight Senate race to Bob Corker in 2006.

He has done political commentary since then, but not run for office.