Morgan Stanley Settles Sex Bias Case For $46 Million Washington Post Published: April 24, 2007 By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Morgan Stanley (MS.N) said on Tuesday it will pay $46 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that accused it of paying thousands of female brokers and trainees less than it paid men. The case was filed last June by six former female brokers on behalf of about 2,700 financial advisers and trainees employed at Morgan Stanley since August 2003. Plaintiffs accused the New York-based investment bank and brokerage of steering lucrative accounts to male brokers and offering men promotions and more favorable training. The settlement calls for Morgan Stanley's wealth management group to institute training, management and account distribution programs designed to help female brokers succeed. Morgan Stanley will also appoint two psychologists to help develop the programs, hire a diversity monitor and allow women who allege discrimination to submit claims to a special master…. Cyrus Mehri, a partner at Mehri & Skalet PLLC who represents the plaintiffs, in an interview called the settlement "a first and significant step in making sure the financial sector distributes accounts and business opportunities fairly."
The plaintiffs' lawyers estimated the cost to Morgan Stanley at over $70 million including higher compensation for female brokers and expenses to implement the new programs. They called the settlement one of the 10 largest in aU.S. gender bias case….
Mehri is also involved in a similar gender bias case against Citigroup Inc.'s (C.N) Smith Barney unit. That case has been pending since March 2005 before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California…. |
