Ex-VP Sues Goldman Over “Mommy Track” Leading to Unemployment Office

Here’s something to which many working mamas can relate:  An ex-Goldman Sachs VP is suing her former employer, claiming that the bank demoted her because she elected to take advantage of its part-time track after her first maternity leave, then fired her while she was on her second.

A sexist, family-unfriendly investment bank?  Whowouldathunkit?

Reuters cites the complaint as saying:

Charlotte Hanna joined Goldman in 1998 as an associate, was promoted to vice president two years later, and received strong praise for her work.   She took advantage of a Goldman program letting her work part-time upon returning from her first maternity leave in February 2005.

When Hanna decided to take the “off-ramp” provided by the firm to devote time to her children, there was no “on-ramp” that enabled her to return to full-time employment. Essentially, the “off-ramp” was a direct path to a mommy-track that ultimately derailed Ms. Hanna’s career.

The complaint includes the allegation that 75 percent of those “selected for termination” in the group that was fired when Hanna was, had recently taken maternity leave, making it “clear that Goldman Sachs views working mothers as second-class citizens who should be at home with their children.”

Upon her return, Hanna allegedly hit a “glass ceiling” with respect to pay and advancement, was demoted, and was systematically excluded from operations and social functions.Hanna’s lawyer, Douglas Wigdor, suggests that the economy is leading to an increase in such cases. Managers, typically men, “perceive that working mothers may not work as hard as men and may not be with the firm as long so they can be with their children,” he told Stempel.  “That can make women seem more expendable.”

Yes, screw part-time “mommy tracks” and job-sharing and top-notch female talent that dares to have kids.  After all, the testosterone leading those banks has done SUCH a stellar job lately!