Compliance November 17, 2010

BofA Settles Gender Discrimination Suit

There has reportedly been a settlement reached in a lawsuit alleging that the bank’s Merrill Lynch unit discriminated against women, filed last year by a female broker. 
Reported by

Jamie Goodman, a broker who worked at Merrill Lynch since 1992, sued the company last year in federal court in Manhattan (see “BofA Broker Files Gender Bias Complaint“).  The Wall Street Journal is reporting that United States District Judge Shira A. Scheindlin wrote in a court order on Tuesday that both sides reached a settlement; the terms were not disclosed.

The lawsuit originally sought to represent several female brokers, but was later amended to include only Goodman, according to the WSJ.  In the complaint, Goodman alleged she had been a $1 million producer for nearly a decade, but was awarded a lower retention award following Merrill Lynch’s acquisition by Bank of America, because of systematic discrimination against women at Merrill Lynch.

A BofA Merrill Lynch spokesman declined to comment and a lawyer for Goodman didn’t return a phone call seeking comment, the WSJ reported. 

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