Online Outrage Over Curry Firing on VaultReports.com Message Board for Morgan Stanley

Business Wire, May 20, 1999

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 20, 1999--

Online message posters, some identifying themselves as employees of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter (NYSE: MSD), are posting messages of outrage on the VaultReports.com employee message boards for Morgan Stanley employees -- which Morgan Stanley recently blocked its employees from having access to (see http://vaultreports.com/links/MessageBoards).

The messages relate to the firing of Christian Curry, a black employee who was dismissed from Morgan Stanley after photos of him appeared in a gay-oriented magazine, although the company denies that the photos have anything to do with the dismissal. Curry has since been arrested for allegedly hiring a hacker to break into company's e-mail system and insert a fake letter that would bolster his claim he was unfairly fired.

Making the case even more bizarre, the New York Times reported today that Morgan Stanley had received a letter last August demanding a $15,000 payment from a police informant who helped arranged a sting operation that was about to result in Curry's arrest.

According to new messages in the Morgan Stanley area of VaultReports.com's Electronic WaterCooler(TM) message boards (http://vaultreports.com/links/MSMessageboard), public opinion is siding with Curry:

-- "This thing has gotten way out of control and was handled really

poorly. I knew Christian Curry. He was a quiet, really nice guy.

I have to believe Morgan could have been a little less

reactionary about all this. Its like they are taking marching

orders from Rudy Guliani for Chrissake."

-- "I just got home from a late dinner and turned on the local

news...The other day somebody wrote something about a boycott. I

tell you, I am ready. This company is getting to feel a bit like

the Nixon Whitehouse AAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHH!!"

-- "The company is really blowing it. I hope they bring this young

black fellow back before I have to go out the 'door as a matter

of conscience.'"

-- "I run a big pension fund at my company and we have a large

participation in Morgan Stanley investments. I am concerned about

what the executives pulled in trying to entrap Mr. Curry. I am

not sure this is the right place for us to invest. Should I

divest?"

See http://vaultreports.com/links/MSMessageboard for the full thread of messages. Needless to say, the messages in VaultReports.com's message boards are solely the opinions of the respective posters and do not reflect the opinions of VaultReports.com or the companies to which they pertain.

About VaultReports.com

In January, VaultReports.com (http://www.VaultReports.com) was one of only two career web sites honored by Yahoo Internet Life as "Best of the Best Sites for 1998." A leading workplace portal, VaultReports.com publishes "insider" guides on over 1,500 companies and 50 industries. Six weeks ago, VaultReports.com launched its Electronic WaterCooler(TM), the first-ever network of company-specific bulletin boards. Located at http://vaultreports.com/links/MessageBoards, Vault's Electronic Watercooler(TM) allows employees around the world to dish the latest gossip about their company or other companies - all within the uncensored domain of the VaultReports.com web site. VaultReports.com was founded in 1996 by H.S. Hamadeh, Samer Hamadeh, and Mark Oldman, recent graduates of Stanford and Wharton.