Today, Wednesday, July 2nd, two former female employees of Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) asked a federal judge in Manhattan for permission to expand their case to sue on behalf of current and former female associates and vice presidents. According to a court filing, the evidence for their claims includes statements of former Goldman Sachs employees, expert statistical analyses and evidence on earnings and promotions from the firm’s records.
Details on Goldman Sachs’ case
The lawsuit was first filed back in 2010, and seeks unspecified damages and an order requiring Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) to fix the alleged gender bias at the firm.
The filing released today claims: “Women report a ‘boy’s club’ atmosphere, where binge drinking is common and women are either sexualized or ignored.”
The plaintiffs in the case, H. Cristina Chen-Oster and Shanna Orlich, are seeking to broaden the case to include other women and shed light on over a decade of alleged discrimination at Goldman Sachs.
Chen-Oster and Orlich hopes the judge recognizes that their claims are similar enough to the claims of other former female Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) that they can present them as a single case.
Denise Shelley, a vice president who left Goldman in 2009, said that men at the firm regularly called women “bimbos,” made fun of a new employee who had won a beauty pageant and frequently entertained clients at strip clubs. Shelley also reported in a court filing that she sat on the steering committee of Goldman’s network for women, but after joining colleagues at a bar after work, was subsequently called a “party girl” by a managing director of the firm.
Legal analysts say a decision by U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres to allow the plaintiffs to sue as a class would significantly up the financial risk to Goldman Sachs.
Statement from Goldman Sachs
“This is a normal and anticipated procedural step for any proposed class action lawsuit and does not change the case’s lack of merit,” said David Wells, a Goldman Sachs spokesman, in a statement released earlier today.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) has denied the women’s charges and is defending itself in court.
