NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg Comments On Lawsuit Against Bloomberg L.P. Over Pregnancy Discrimination, Clarifies Involvement With Company

Main Category: Litigation / Medical Malpractice
Also Included In: Pregnancy / Obstetrics;  Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 10 Oct 2007 - 9:00 PDT

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New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Thursday was "dismissive" of a lawsuit filed last week against Bloomberg L.P. -- the financial and media company he founded -- that said the company discriminated against three female employees after they became pregnant and took maternity leave, the New York Times reports (Rivera, New York Times, 10/5). The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission last month filed the lawsuit in a U.S. District Court in New York City.

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 still are 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.

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 (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 10/1). According to the Times, the company has "adamantly denied" the allegations in the lawsuit.

Michael Bloomberg on Thursday at a press conference suggested that his company attracted lawsuits because of the high profile of his name. He added, "What's happening is that because I'm so visible, that obviously I'm a target."

Michael Bloomberg's Involvement With Company
After "a week of distancing himself from the company," Michael Bloomberg on Thursday said that he has talked regularly to senior executives at the firm and was kept up to date about what was happening there, the Times reports (New York Times, 10/5).

Although Michael Bloomberg owns 68% of the company's shares, he previously said 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 (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 10/1). According to the Times, the "shift came" after a plaintiff in the lawsuit filed a motion that said the mayor had discussed the allegations and other matters with company officials.

"I am the majority owner, and I'm absolutely entitled to talk to the senior people and am entitled to know what's going on" with the company, Michael Bloomberg said, adding, "And I will continue to do that. I've been doing that since I became mayor." He suggested that major decisions in the company such as "product changes and things of that nature" would not be made without his input. "I just don't get involved in the day-to-day stuff like personnel," he said. He is not named as a defendant in the EEOC lawsuit (New York Times, 10/5).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation© 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.