Sophia Serrao
Thu, 05/18/2023
After nearly 13 years of litigation, Goldman Sachs settled a class action gender discrimination lawsuit for $215 million, divided amongst 2800 women. The bank has faced a long-term class action lawsuit for paying women less than men.
The suit was filed in 2010 and was set to go to trial in July of this year. The class action, which includes about 2800 female associates and vice presidents of Goldman Sachs, alleged that Goldman Sachs underpaid women, gave women worse performance reviews, and passed women over for promotions. There were also some anecdotal assertions of a hostile work environment, alleging that the ways in which women were left out of meetings or events fostered a “boys club” mentality.
The women generally allege that they were not paid at an equal sum to their male counterparts for doing comparable work. The women also allege that they were passed up for promotional opportunities and unfairly given lower performance ratings in comparison to their male counterparts. The parties agreed to a settlement of $215 million for the related gender discrimination claims for the class.
Goldman Sachs did not admit to any wrongdoing as part of the settlement, and denied the bank violated the law. The bank has agreed to work with an outside expert for three years to ensure it has non-biased outcomes for employees in performance and promotional opportunities. The settlement encompasses any woman who held the role of associate or vice president at Goldman Sachs and underwent certain employee performance reviews between July 7, 2002, to March 28, 2023.
