Chen-Oster v. Goldman, Sachs & Co.

Opinion

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

TO THE HONORABLE LEONARD B. SAND, U.S.D.J.:

This is a putative class action in which the plaintiffs allege that their employers, Goldman, Sachs & Co. and The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (collectively, "Goldman Sachs"), have engaged in a pattern of gender discrimination against female professional employees in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., and New York City Human Rights Law, N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 8-107 et seq. The plaintiffs seek to bring this action on behalf of "a Class of all female financial-services employees who are at the Associate, Vice President, and Managing Director corporate level" at Goldman Sachs. (First Amended Class Action Complaint ("Am. Compl."), ¶ 58). Goldman Sachs now moves to strike all of the plaintiffs' class allegations in light of the Supreme Court's recent decision in Dukes v. Wal-mart, ___ U.S. ___, 131 S. Ct. 2541, 180 L. Ed. 2d 374 (2011), and for partial summary judgment with regard to the plaintiffs' disparate impact claim under Title VII on the ground that all three of the named plaintiffs failed to exhaust that claim in their Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") charges. For the reasons  [*4] set forth below, I recommend the that defendants' motion be denied.

Background

The plaintiffs are three women who worked for Goldman Sachs between 1997 and 2008. (Am. Compl., ¶¶ 13-18). Goldman Sachs initially hired H. Cristina Chen-Oster in March 1997 as a salesperson in the Convertible Bonds Department, and subsequently promoted her Vice President in June of that year. (Am. Compl., ¶ 67; Letter of Theodore O. Rogers, Jr. dated Sept. 1, 2005 ("Def. 9/1/05 EEOC Letter"), attached as Exh. B to Declaration of Theodore O. Rogers, Jr. dated July 25, 2011 ("Rogers 7/25/11 Decl."), at 2). She remained in that position until her resignation from the firm in 2005, although she transferred to the Synthetics Convertibles group. (Am. Compl., ¶¶ 67, 99; Def. 9/1/05 EEOC Letter at 3-4). Shanna Orlich began work as a Summer Associate at Goldman Sachs in 2006 and became a full-time Associate in the Capital Structure Franchise Trading Group in July 2007. (Am. Compl., ¶ 112). She remained in that position until Goldman Sachs terminated her in November 2008. (Am. Compl., ¶ 131). Goldman Sachs hired Lisa Parisi as a Vice President in their asset management division in August 2001. (Am. Compl., ¶ 101).  [*5] In 2003, she was promoted to the position of Managing Director. (Am. Compl., ¶ 101). Ms. Parisi continued as a Managing Director until Goldman Sachs terminated her employment in November 2 008. (Am. Compl., ¶¶ St 101, 110).

Following their respective terminations by Goldman Sachs, each of the plaintiffs filed EEOC charges on behalf of themselves and similarly situated women in which they alleged gender discrimination and retaliation by Goldman Sachs. (Am. Compl., ¶¶ 100, 111, 132). Ms. Chen-Oster filed her charge and an accompanying supplement on July 7, 2005. (EEOC Charge of Cristina Chen-Oster ("Chen-Oster Charge") and Supplement of EEOC Charge ("Chen-Oster Supp.") dated July 7, 2005, both attached as Exh. A to Declaration of Adam T. Klein in Opposition to Defendants' Motion for Partial Summary Judgment as to Plaintiffs' Disparate Impact Claim Under Title VII ("Klein Decl."). In the supplement to her EEOC charge, Ms. Chen-Oster elaborated on her claims by providing details about her compensation, her interactions with colleagues and supervisors, and her performance evaluations. (Chen-Oster Supp.).

Full case includes Shepard's, Headnotes, Legal Analytics from Lex Machina, and more.