Company Sued For 100 Million Dollars For Widespread Gender Discrimination
A former public relations employee has sued Publicis Groupe SA for $100 million, saying the French advertising company discriminates against women in pay and promotions. The suit contends that women make up 70 percent of the company's public relations staff but hold only about 15 percent of leadership positions.
The case was filed by Monique da Silva Moore, who was global healthcare director in the Boston office of the company's public relations division MSLGroup, it is asking for class-action status.
The lawsuit seeks damages of at least $100 million and is the latest of many accusing companies of systematically favoring men over women in the workplace. For example, Toshiba Corp was sued in January for $100 million, and last July, Novartis AG agreed to pay $175 million to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing it of discriminating against 5,600 women sales representatives.
Ms. Da Silva Moore worked for MSLGroup from 1999 through January 2010, when she says she was unfairly terminated after a four-month maternity leave. She earlier worked for the company from 1991 to 1993, the lawsuit says. The maternity allegations make for an interesting element to this particular lawsuit as it claims that two other women who returned from maternity leave were also terminated while the company promoted and hired more men at a disproportionately high rate.
