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Politics | 10/03/2008 1:15 pm

Bloomberg Faces 72 Angry Moms in Employment Discrimination Suit

By The Staff at wowOwow.com
© Shutterstock

While New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg tries to seek a third term to steer the city through the financial crisis, he’s going to have to also answer allegations from some very upset mommies.

Bloomberg is being accused by 72 current and former female employees of the Bloomberg LP financial news service of discriminating against them by decreasing their pay, demoting them and excluding them from other employment advancements once the company learned of their baby bump.

ABC News details the complaints, which include an allegation that a Bloomberg senior executive said: "I’m not having any pregnant b-tches working for me," and instructed another executive to terminate their jobs.

Another says females were subjected "to stereotypes regarding female caregivers" through comments such as "You are not committed" and "You do not want to be here" when they returned from maternity leave.

The employees that brought the suit before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) claimed the company’s “culture of discrimination” was created by Bloomberg himself. The EEOC filed suit against the company after determining that the women’s careers "lost momentum" after they became pregnant and that they "were transferred, displaced and /or demoted."

"This case should send a message to other employers and employees that they should not make any stereotypical assumptions that employees who become pregnant or mothers are less committed to their jobs," said Kam Wong, lead counsel on the case for the EEOC.

The EEOC’s suit is before the Federal District court in Manhattan.

9 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Marjorie C.
I sincerely hope those 72 employees take Mr. Bloomberg to the cleaners.
By Marjorie C. on 10/03/2008 3:19 pm
Kryssi K
Aww, how disappointing! Isn’t he the mayor who tried to ban trans fats in local restaurants??? How can one be so progressive in one arena and totally archaic in another? I never understood this mentality of politicians!
By Kryssi K on 10/03/2008 5:05 pm
Brooklyn Gal
First of all this in not new. New York Magazine reported on this story 8 years ago when he suggested to an employee she have an abortion. This mayor of my city uses his money to buy the media. His approval ratings are based on fuzzy math. He has destroyed education in NYC by forcing teachers to test prep. Then he claims there is no “social promotion” yet makes it easier for students to pass classes just by showing up. He calls it “seat credit”. And when some of his own hand-picked Board of Education members disagreed with him, he had them all fired. btw, there is another discrimination suit against him—age discrimination when he warned principals not to hire experienced teachers. He practically told the residents of Astoria, Queens to suck up the heat and defended Con Edison when a blackout occurred during the worst heatwave ever. (Rudy at least blasted Con Ed and took the side of his city residents.) He told New Yorkers they were lazy because they complained about having to shovel out their cars the day after a major snowstorm and ticketed them. Those tickets were later dismissed after every NY paper blasted him. (This from a man who probably never had to shovel snow in his life.) Why didn’t Wow report on the thousands of parents who protested against him or that NYC classrooms are so overcrowded that many students don’t even have a desk or chair and have lunch at 10 in the morning? Now this man wants to be King of NYC and defy the voice of the people who voted for term limits. He is using his money and power to overthrow this law. Why, because he wasn’t chosen as McCain’s VP and he knows Patterson is a popular governor—that’s the other job he wanted. And, the media buys into his own PR rather than investigate his claims. He is not the savior of the NY economy. Any politician can cut a budget. He is just making people believe he is the Messiah.
By Brooklyn Gal on 10/03/2008 9:16 pm
Marjorie C.
WOW !! And he seemed like such a nice man, bragging on Charlie Rose about his accomplishments and all.
By Marjorie C. on 10/04/2008 6:32 am
Agyness O
Interesting Carol, The perception of Bloomberg around the country has been just the opposite. I thought his approval ratings were through the roof. Tight control of the media, huh? I feel few things are as they seem or as we wish them to be.
By Agyness O on 10/05/2008 11:09 pm
Brooklyn Gal
I know his approval ratings are high. But he is the media. His company run the Charlie Rose show. But Palin has an 80% approval rating—nuff said.
By Brooklyn Gal on 10/06/2008 10:18 am
HA BIBI
Sue the bejesus out of him. He sounds like another mysoginistic male with an archaic attitude.
By HA BIBI on 10/04/2008 10:19 pm
Mommy Dearest
I’LL show you an angry mother!
By Mommy Dearest on 10/05/2008 2:30 pm