EEOC files lawsuit against Bloomberg L.P. over maternity leave discrimination

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Thursday in a U.S. District Court in New York City filed a lawsuit against Bloomberg L.P. -- the financial and media company founded by Mayor Michael Bloomberg -- saying the company discriminated against three female employees after they became pregnant and took maternity leave, the New York Times reports.

The lawsuit identifies the plaintiffs as Jill Patricot, Janet Loures and Tanys Lancaster, all of whom were high-level employees in the company's offices in New York City and Princeton, N.J., Milo Silberstein, a private lawyer hired by the women, said. Loures and Patricot are still with the firm, and Lancaster left in 2005. Although the suit is filed in the name of the three women, EEOC said the action is on behalf of a "class of female employees affected by such unlawful practices" at the company.

Suit Details
According to the lawsuit, Bloomberg L.P. management demoted women and reduced their salaries after learning the women were pregnant. The women also were replaced by more junior male employees, excluded from management meetings or subjected to comments including, "You are not committed," and, "You don't want to be here," the lawsuit said. In some cases, managers questioned the women's ability to perform because of their family responsibilities, the suit said.

The company's human resources department dismissed complaints filed about the discrimination, according to the lawsuit. The women filed a complaint with EEOC last year, and the commission's New York District Director Spencer Lewis in June determined that the allegations warranted a suit against the company. The women's charges "were echoed by a number of other female current and former employees who have taken maternity leave," Lewis wrote, adding that EEOC's investigation "shows that their careers lost momentum and that they were transferred, displaced and/or demoted."

Lewis also said the company had no policy on working part time at home or on a flexible schedule. Judith Czelusniak, a Bloomberg L.P. spokesperson, said, "The company believes strongly that the allegations are without merit, and we intend to defend the case vigorously." She said Bloomberg L.P. does allow part-time work depending on the job function, adding that it also provides 12 weeks of paid maternity leave and an option to take four weeks unpaid leave, as well as no-cost child care.

According to EEOC officials, the lawsuit was filed after an unsuccessful attempt to reach a settlement with the company. The suit is seeking compensation for lost wages and pain, suffering and humiliation experienced by the women as a result of the company's actions, as well a requirement that the company implement new policies. Silberstein and his partner, William Dealy, said the women plan to file a separate motion charging that the company also violated city and state anti-discrimination laws.

Michael Bloomberg's Involvement With Company
According to the Times, although Michael Bloomberg owns 68% of the company's shares, he has not been involved in daily operations at the company since 2001, and the allegations in the lawsuit are said to have occurred after he became mayor in 2002 (Rivera, New York Times, 9/28). Michael Bloomberg in 2000 reached an out-of-court settlement with Sekkiko Garrison, a sales representative for the company, who claimed that when she announced her pregnancy in 1995, he told her to "kill it" (Seifman/Haberman, New York Post, 9/28). Michael Bloomberg denied any wrongdoing in that case, the Times reports. When asked about the suit filed on Thursday, Michael Bloomberg said, "You'll have to talk to Bloomberg L.P.," adding "I haven't worked there ... in an awful long time" (New York Times, 9/28).