Federal Judge OKs Counsel's Class Action Against General Electric
The general counsel of a subsidiary of General Electric Co. can proceed with an employment discrimination case against her employer on a class-action basis, a federal judge ruled yesterday.
The suit alleges that a “very male-dominated culture” at GE discriminates against women executives at all levels, denying them equal pay and promotion—including promotion to top-level legal jobs, reports the Associated Press. It could potentially could hit the international conglomerate with $500 million in damages on behalf of 1,500 female employees, if it is successful.
Filed in federal district court in Connecticut in May by Lorene Schaefer, general counsel of GE Transportation, the suit also seeks an injunction requiring the company to end its allegedly discriminatory pay and promotion practices.
The company had argued that Schaefer should not be allowed to bring the case as a class action because she had access to confidential attorney-client information as a high-level GE lawyer, before she was put on paid administrative leave in May after complaining about a pending demotion. U.S. District Judge Peter Dorsey rejected this argument, but left the door open for it to be raised again.
“If at any point during discovery, the defendants learn and can demonstrate that plaintiff is inappropriately using confidential client confidences in asserting her claims or representing the class, the court may reconsider the propriety of plaintiff’s class allegations at that time,” he wrote in a 30-page opinion.
ABC News: “General Electric Gender Discrimination Lawsuit”
Bloomberg: “General Electric Lawyer Claims Gender Bias in Suit”
ABAJournal.com: “GE Lawyer Claims Gender Bias”
