David Cameron's thoughts on Goldman.
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There is a lot to sort through in the 41-page discrimination lawsuit against Goldman Sachs Group. There also are dozens of pages of exhibits with detailed statements from the three women plaintiffs.
In the complaint, one of the women, Cristina Chen-Oster, accuses a former co-worker of assaulting her after a Goldman outing to a New York strip club. The scene as described in the complaint is at variance with the famously buttoned-up, straight-edge Goldman culture.
Here is the excerpt:
In or around May 1999, Chen-Oster told her supervisor about an incident which had occurred in 1997, shortly after she joined Goldman Sachs. In the fall of 1997, Goldman Sachs sponsored a dinner for a male employee who had just been promoted to Managing Director. Part of the evening took place at Scores, a topless bar, and all employees in the group were encouraged to join. At the end of the evening, a married male Associate in her group insisted that he escort her to her boyfriend’s apartment building a few blocks away. In the hallway outside the apartment, the male colleague surprised Chen-Oster by pinning her against a wall, kissing and groping her and attempting to engage in a sexual act with her. Chen-Oster did not invite or welcome the attempt and had to physically defend herself.
The lawsuit adds that the male employee allegedly told his supervisor about the incident and apologized profusely to Chen-Oster. But the complaint alleges that the male employee was friends with the supervisor, who was also Chen-Oster’s supervisor. After reporting the alleged incident, the lawsuit says Chen-Oster began to experience “hostility and marginalization” at Goldman.
Goldman Sachs spokesman Lucas Van Praag said in a statement:
“We believe this suit is without merit. People are critical to our business, and we make extraordinary efforts to recruit, develop and retain outstanding women professionals.”
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Three former Goldman Sachs employees filed a gender bias lawsuit against the firm today, lamenting an "outdated corporate culture" run by, and catering to, men.
Plaintiff H. Christina Chen-Oster, a former vice president in convertible bonds, joined Shanna Orlich, a former associate in trading, and Lisa Parisi, a former managing director in asset management, in filing the suit in Federal Court in Manhattan. According to the New York Times and Reuters, they're taking action on behalf of all female managing directors, vice presidents and associate employees in the last six years.
But that's not as many people as it might seem. According to the NYT, the suit says women comprise only 17 percent of managing directors and 29 percent of vice presidents at Goldman. (Never mind partners, of which women are reportedly only 14 percent.)
The suit claims that Goldman pays women less than men, denies them promotions, gives them unfairly harsh feedback, blocks business opportunities and, according to the Wall Street Journal's summary, refuses to adequately train them.
It gets worse. Chen-Oster, says the WSJ, claims in the suit that a male colleague groped her after an office party at a topless bar in 1997. Reporting the harassment, she says, hurt her status at the company.
Orlich, who, the WSJ notes, holds a combined JD/MBA from Columbia and played on her high school's varsity golf team, says in the suit that a male senior analyst assigned her the demeaning tasks of setting up his Blackberry and fielding calls from his wife. When she wanted to go golfing with the firm, the boys said no.
More detail: