Bloomberg Case: Open Season to Discriminate Against Mothers?
Cross-posted from New Deal 2.0.
When Sekiko Garrison told former boss Michael Bloomberg she was pregnant, his answer was simple: “Kill it.” Allowing mothers flexible work arrangements, he commented, was like allowing a man time off to practice his golf swing. The CEO who took over when Bloomberg left the company demanded that managers “get rid of these pregnant bitches” (referring to two women on maternity leave). The Head of Global Human Resources commented that mothers “belong at home” and that “women [do] not really [have] a place in the workforce.” The Head of News commented that “half these f**king people take the [maternity] leave and they don’t even come back. It’s like stealing money from Mike Bloomberg’s wallet. They should be arrested.” The Head of Global Data asked, “Who would want to work with an office full of women?”*
And yet Federal Judge Loretta Preska said last week there was so little evidence of discrimination that she