Testiness emerges from depositions in Bloomberg discrimination case

David Chen of the New York Times writes about the depositions in a lawsuit alleging sexual discrimination by Bloomberg LP against some female employees, noting that company founder Michael Bloomberg was especially testy in his comments.

Chen writes, “Mr. Bloomberg’s testimony is not as crucial to the case as the comments of other executives and the plaintiffs, lawyers who have been following the case said. One of the most vivid excerpts involves Matthew Winkler, the longtime editor of Bloomberg News who helped Mr. Bloomberg with his memoir. Complaining that pregnant employees who went on maternity leave often did not return, he was quoted by one plaintiff as saying: ‘It’s like stealing money from Mike Bloomberg’s wallet. It’s theft. They should be arrested.’

“In papers filed on Jan. 28 to dismiss the case, Thomas H. Golden, a lawyer for the company, argued that the case ‘defies common sense’ and rested upon ‘the sort of ‘isolated’ and ‘sporadic’ instances of alleged discrimination that courts have routinely held is insufficient to satisfy a plaintiff’s burden.’

“Mr. Golden also cited compensation experts, accepted by Judge Loretta A. Preska of Federal District Court in Manhattan, who concluded that, on average, employees who took pregnancy leave saw increases in salary that were twice that of employees who took other types of leave. Moreover, Judge Preska last August threw out the testimony of two of the federal commission’s own experts.

“In a statement, Bloomberg L.P. said: ‘The E.E.O.C. has no substantive argument or evidence in this case. Rather, they have resorted to regurgitating second- and third-hand quotes. These accusations are old news and false.'”

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