TOP SALES WOMAN TOLD "KILL IT" !
Bloomberg On Hot Seat For Alleged Discrimination
Over 80 female pregnant employees of Bloomberg L.P. claim the company treated them unfairly.
BY STEPHANIE BARISH | wpix.com
May 14, 2009
NEW YORK (WPIX)
Mayor Michael Bloomberg was grilled under oath Thursday by federal officials in connection with a discrimination suit alleging the financial news company he founded treated pregnant women unfairly, according to a report in the New York Post.
The deposition began at 9 a.m. Midtown and were expected to last several hours, according to lawyers working on the case.
On behalf of more than 80 female employees, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in March filed a complaint against Bloomberg L.P. alleging the company took part in a pattern of discrimination against pregnant women who took maternity leave.
In the report, the EEOC says the company "is responsible for the creation of the systemic, top-down culture of discrimination which exists within Bloomberg, and...has been sued in the past...by several female executives who have alleged in their lawsuits that a hostile environment exists for women at Bloomberg."
Bloomberg, who founded the financial business, is not a defendant in the case. Bloomberg L.P. has denied the allegations.
According to the lawsuit, the apparent discrimination at hand took place after Bloomberg left the company for his mayoral run in 2001. However, defense lawyers claims the company's management--including Bloomberg himself--should be held responsible.
In one complaint, Bloomberg allegedly told a top saleswoman, "Kill it," after she announced she was pregnant, the New York Post reports.
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