Goldman Sachs to pay $215m for sex discrimination: The case explained

More than a decade-old legal battle against one of the world's largest investment banks has finally reached a settlement.Goldman Sachs has agreed to pay $215 million (~Rs 17.63 billion) in order to settle the lawsuit that claimed the bank discriminated against women when it came to paying, performance evaluations and promotions, according to Associated Press.The settlement covers about 2,800 female associates and vice presidents in Goldman's investment banking, investment management and securities divisions.The agreement comes a month before the lawsuit was set to go to trial next month.It alleged Goldman Sachs underpaid women compared to men, gave women worse performance reviews and passed women over for promotions.Let’s take a look at the long-running class-action lawsuit.The lawsuitAccording to a press release, women at Goldman Sachs filed a lawsuit in 2010 alleging that the Wall Street bank discriminated against them based on their gender, breaking both the New York City Human Rights Law and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.Plaintiffs cited data from women and their lawyers as evidence that the bank had discriminated against them in terms of pay, promotion opportunities, and evaluation of female employees' performance.The judge also took into account personal accounts of a "hostile" work environment at Goldman Sachs.As a condition of the settlement, Goldman Sachs refused to acknowledge any wrongdoing and said the bank had not broken any laws.Also read: What’s Australia’s new law to tackle gender pay gap? Which countries have similar rules?"Hostile" work environmentAccording to USA Today, despite making millions of dollars in profits for Goldman Sachs in at least one instance, women claim in court documents that they were denied promotions and subjected to unfair performance evaluations because of their gender.Women shared several examples of how they have been treated differently than men and excluded from meetings because of their gender.For a company holiday party, the plaintiff Shanna Orlich claimed one of her male supervisors hired "scantily clad" female prostitutes.She further claimed that a vice president asked every man in her department to a round of golf but left her out despite the fact that she had "played varsity golf in high school."Another lady claimed that a "boy's club" culture existed, with women being barred from golf outings and barbecues that men attended.Mary De Luis, a different complainant, said that when she complained to her male supervisors that her pay was below the industry standard for her position, they advised her to keep in mind the oncologist boyfriend she had at the time.Also read: Pay disparity in Bollywood: After Priyanka Chopra, Kareena Kapoor; Rakul Preet Singh speaks out of pay disparityThe settlementThe settlement applies to women who held the role of associate or vice president at Goldman Sachs and underwent certain employee performance reviews.Any woman with those titles who worked at Goldman Sachs in New York between 7 July 2002 to 28 March 28 2023 and produced revenue for the bank may be able to get class settlement benefits, the bank said, according to USA Today.“My goal in this case has always been to support strong women on Wall Street. I am proud that the result we achieved here will advance gender equity,” plaintiff Allison Gamba said in a prepared statement.One of the original plaintiffs, Shanna Orlich, said she feels the settlement will help advance women's careers at the Wall Street bank."I have been proud to support this case without hesitation over the last nearly thirteen years and believe this settlement will help the women I had in mind when I filed the case,” she said.AP reported aside from the payment, the settlement includes a three-year period during which Goldman will work with an independent expert to perform more analysis on its performance evaluation processes, as well as its process for promoting individuals from vice president to managing director.It also requires an independent expert to conduct additional pay equity studies and for the New York City company to investigate and address any gender pay gaps where appropriate.“Goldman Sachs is proud of its long record of promoting and advancing women and remains committed to ensuring a diverse and inclusive workplace for all our people. After more than a decade of vigorous litigation, both parties have agreed to resolve this matter," said Jacqueline Arthur, Goldman Sachs' global head of human capital management. "We will continue to focus on our people, our clients, and our business.”Also read: Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak joins gender discrimination debate; says Apple Card algorithm gave wife lower credit limitThe gender pay gap in the worldDespite progress in other areas, women continue to face gender discrimination at work across many countries.According to data from the US Census Bureau, in 2023, women are earning 77 cents for every dollar earned by men, which means a woman works full-time for a salary that is only 77 per cent of a man's salary.In simple words, women work for free for more than 10 weeks every year.[caption id="attachment_12576752" align="alignnone" width="640"]

The gender gap still exists, but certain nations are faring better than others. Graphic: Pranay Bhardwaj[/caption]The gender gap still exists, but certain nations, including Iceland, Finland, Norway, New Zealand, and Sweden, are doing better than others, according to the World Economic Forum.While Afghanistan, Yemen, Iraq, Pakistan, and Syria exhibit the worst performance.With inputs from Associated PressRead all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.