Mumbai (India), 9th May 2023: Goldman Sachs Group Inc has agreed to pay $215 million to resolve a long-running class-action lawsuit accusing the investment firm of pervasive bias against women in both compensation and promotions.
It was reported last week that settlement talks were ongoing about a month before the trial was scheduled to begin.
According to Bloomberg News, the plaintiffs claimed that the bank routinely paid women less than men and gave women poorer performance assessments, impeding their career advancement.
The New York-based bank reached an agreement with lawyers representing over 2,800 women who claimed the firm discriminated against them because of their gender. A third of the settlement is expected to be set aside for attorney fees.
The lawsuit was filed by Cristina Chen-Oster, Mary De Luis, and Allison Gamba who were Goldman vice presidents, while Shanna Orlich was an associate. Cristina Chen-Oster filed the discrimination action with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in July 2005, and then sued in 2010.
Goldman declined to respond, however the bank had earlier denied any wrongdoing. Plaintiffs’ lawyers at Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP also did not answer to a request for comment.
The lawsuit is one of the most high-profile cases involving alleged uneven treatment of women on Wall Street.
