Goldman Sachs to pay $215M to settle gender discrimination suit

May 9 (UPI) -- Investment giant Goldman Sachs said on Monday it will pay $215 million to settle a 13-year-old class-action gender discrimination lawsuit where plaintiffs claimed they suffered from biases in pay, performance evaluations and promotions.

The lawsuit covered about 2,800 female associates and vice presidents employed in investment banking, investment management and securities divisions. The settlement covers all women who worked in "revenue producing" positions from July 7, 2002, to March 28.

"As one of the original plaintiffs, I have been proud to support this case without hesitation over the last nearly 13 years and believe this settlement will help the women I had in mind when I filed the case," said Shanna Orlich, who originally sued Goldman Sachs with Cristina Chen-Oster, Allison Gamba and Mary De Luis.

The court will now set a hearing for preliminary settlement approval and then have a third-party administrator allocate the settlement amounts.

"Plaintiffs believe this settlement provides substantial, certain recoveries for all class members and advances gender-equity at Goldman," said Kelly Dermody, the plaintiff's co-counsel, in a statement.

Jacqueline Arthur, Goldman Sachs' global head of human capital management, said the company said both sides found it mutual the bring the long-litigated issue to rest.

"Goldman Sachs is proud of its long record of promoting and advancing women and remains committed to ensuring a diverse and inclusive workplace for all our people," Arthur said in a statement.

"After more than a decade of vigorous litigation, both parties have agreed to resolve this matter. We will continue to focus on our people, our clients, and our business."

The announcement comes less than a month after Goldman reported net revenue of $12.2 billion for the first quarter, 5% lower year-on-year but 15% higher than levels over the three-month period ending in December.