Disturbing information were brought to public attention by a Bloomberg article today, which revealed that two former female employees of the firm seek to expand their lawsuit against the firm for widespread gender discrimination with new evidence.
According to the article, the women asked a federal judge in Manhattan today to let them sue on behalf of current and former female associates and vice presidents. In their court filing it was mentioned that they can support their claims with statements of former Goldman Sachs employees, expert statistical analyses and evidence on earnings and promotions from the firm’s own records.

The two women claim that Goldman Sachs resembles a ‘boys club’, where binge drinking and trips to strip clubs are common, and women are mocked as ‘bimbos and ‘party girls’.

Cristina Chen-Oster and Shanna Orlich, sued in 2010 and are seeking to broaden the case to include more than a decade of claimed discrimination at Goldman Sachs. A decision to allow the women to sue as a class would increase the risk to Goldman Sachs.

In the lawsuit, filed in 2010, the women seek unspecified damages and an order requiring Goldman Sachs to fix the alleged gender bias at the firm.

Female vice presidents earned 21% less than men and female associates made 8% less, Cristina Chen-Oster and Shanna Orlich claimed. About 23% fewer female vice presidents were promoted to managing director of the New York-based bank relative to their male counterparts, they stressed.

Denise Shelley, a vice president who left the firm in 2009, said in a court filing that men at Goldman Sachs repeatedly called women “bimbos,” mocked a new employee who had won a beauty pageant and took clients to strip clubs.

Source: www.bloomberg.com