Goldman Sachs Group Inc. settled a discrimination lawsuit hours before testimony from an analyst who’d claimed she’d been deprived of pay, bonuses and a promotion because of her gender.
Sonia Pereiro-Mendez, an executive director at the bank, agreed to end the case, Richard Leiper, her lawyer, said at a London court on Tuesday. He declined to give any details.
“We are pleased this matter is resolved,” Fiona Laffan, a Goldman Sachs spokeswoman, said after a short hearing.
Goldman Sachs has been accused of having a “boys club” working culture in a separate U.S. lawsuitby two women trying to start a class action. The New York-based bank denied discrimination in the U.S. case and said it fosters diversity, at an October court hearing.
Pereiro-Mendez, who has now left the investment bank, was paid $700,000 in 2010 in salary and bonuses before having her compensation cut in later years, during which time she took maternity and sick leave, according to her legal documents from a March hearing in London.
She said an executive told her managers wanted to “get rid” of her, while she was excluded from meetings and client dinners and “publicly undermined.”
Goldman Sachs said her performance was below average and didn’t warrant pay increases, according to its documents from the March hearing.
The case is Pereiro-Mendez v Goldman Sachs Services Ltd. & Others, case no. 14-22-00892, London Central Employment Tribunal.