The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a lawsuit against financial news service Bloomberg after it said the company discriminated against three women who took maternity leave.
It said Bloomberg management demoted the three high-level executives – Tanys Lancaster, Janet Loures, and Jill Patricot – and reduced their salaries after learning the women were pregnant.
The lawsuit said the company’s human resources department dismissed complaints filed about the discrimination.
Loures and Patricot, who are still employed at the firm, along with Lancaster, who left in 2005, are seeking at least £20m each in back pay, compensation for lost pay, and punitive damages.
In addition, they want a permanent injunction blocking the company from discrimination based on sex and pregnancy.
The EEOC added that the case is on behalf of a “class of female employees affected by such unlawful practices” at the company.
