Goldman Sachs Group Inc. agreed. has agreed to pay $215 million to end a long-running class-action lawsuit that accused the Wall Street giant of systematically underpaying women.
The New York-based bank closed the deal with attorneys representing about 2,800 associates and vice presidents, according to a joint statement from the bank and plaintiffs’ attorneys. Bloomberg News earlier reported about the settlement, about a third of which is expected to be set aside for attorneys’ fees.
Goldman Sachs will hire an independent expert to conduct additional analysis of the performance appraisals, as well as the promotion process, for a period of three years, according to the statement.
The upcoming trial, scheduled for next month in New York, would have provided a rare public forum for testimony about inequality within the financial industry, since all but one of the six major US banks were run by men.
And Bloomberg News reported that the two sides were finalizing a deal, and are rushing to settle before trial last week.
The issue was watched closely in an industry where women were involved He said long ago Complaining about unfair treatment can derail careers. Although the trial was focused on wage and promotion stats, and one judge said the issue of a boys’ club vibe didn’t qualify for class treatment, it was about as much more than a bag of numbers. He likely had examined some of the fabric of Goldman’s workplace, thanks in part to the testimony of the executives.
The settlement is larger than the amount Smith paid Barney decades earlier, more than $100 million, to end the so-called Boom-Boom Room lawsuit, which accused the company of harassment and discrimination.
The Goldman suit was first brought to life by Cristina Chen-Oster, an MIT graduate who joined in 1997 and sold convertible notes. I filed a discrimination lawsuit complaint in July 2005 with the American Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and then sued in 2010. Goldman fought—successfully, in some cases—to send some of the women in the case to arbitration, a more secretive system.
But mandatory arbitration agreements are not the only tools in the companies’ arsenal. Non-disclosure agreements and settlements have long been used on and off Wall Street to keep allegations of bad behavior and unfair treatment out of the spotlight.
For years, Goldman and its peers have pledged to diversify their ranks, recognizing that they need to do better. Although last year’s Goldman partner category was 29% women, it’s Goldman’s most comprehensive set of promotions yet.