The EEOC’s case against Bloomberg was so weak that Judge Preska, without being asked to, invited Bloomberg to apply for attorney’s fees. The litigation ended when the EEOC agreed to drop its appeal.Perhaps fairness indicates that we should expect an organization with nearly 20,000 employees to end up settling a few cases of lower level managers being unfair to women employees. The judge found no pattern of such discrimination as a company-wide phenomenon, or anything close to it, and wrote as much in her opinion.
Unless better proof than that currently before us is presented, I intend to lay off picking on little Mike about treatment of women. He certainly isn’t the only CEO who is crude in his speech. I’ll bet he wasn’t nearly as crude as the dialog in the popular TV drama Game of Thrones.
Bloomberg women employees who “settled” discrimination lawsuits which included non-disclosure agreements did so, in all likelihood because their attorneys advised them their cases were far less than slam dunks. They agreed, in essence, to be “bought off” rather than risk getting nothing - entirely their choice. NDAs are standard legal practice in settlements and attorneys know a firm settling a lawsuit doesn’t imply guilt.
