That’s what three women say in a lawsuit filed last week. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued the financial information company on behalf of the women, all longtime top execs there.
They had suffered unfair demotions, lower pay, and were denied promotions, they say. What had they done–leaked sensitive financial data? Lost huge accounts? Failed to vote for majority owner Michael Bloomberg as mayor?
Nope. They’d gotten–gasp!–pregnant.
Bloomberg, the popular and populist Republican mayor of New York, has repeatedly denied any knowledge or involvement–not just in the situations that led to the suit, but in the company’s daily doings as a whole since his election in 2001. The women say otherwise. Their complaint reads:
This systemic, top-down discrimination against female employees is fostered, condoned and perpetuated by the highest levels of management within Bloomberg and by ownership of Bloomberg, to wit, Michael Bloomberg, [other Bloomberg execs including] Peter Grauer, Alexius `Lex’ Fenwick and Thomas Secunda .
This is turning into a great week for news on sexist workplaces engendered by jerky bosses, isn’t it? I think I might rename my column: “Work Would Be in Progress Except For an A-hole of a Boss.”
I wonder when these zillion-dollar corporations will learn that it doesn’t matter how many glossy ads they commission; a nasty lawsuit like this one will torpedo public image for a loooong time. Take Merrill Lynch. Sure, they made Working Mother’s 2007 list of best places to work, based apparently on its new on-site, “transitional” (whatever that means) childcare service, its proffered flex-time, and up to 13 weeks paid maternity leave. Big honkin’ deal. What I remember instead are the series of discrimination lawsuits brought by women who worked there. In fact, according to the International Herald Tribune,
In the last decade, the country’s three biggest brokerage firms – Merrill, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup – have paid more than $400 million to settle sex-discrimination suits filed by women.
So it’s not just about image; it’s also about bucks, actual bucks. And that doesn’t include all the bucks they’re not making because we female customers–that’s right, the ones that often hold the household pursestrings–are choosing not to darken your doorsteps.