A Pimco lawyer has filed a gender and racial discrimination lawsuit against the $1.8tn asset manager, alleging she was passed over for promotions and denied career opportunities after becoming pregnant.
Andrea Martin Inokon, who is African-American, claimed in a complaint filed on September 24 in a California superior court that Pimco operated as a “fraternity in a perversely literal sense”. Pimco strongly denied all the allegations.
Based on her experiences at the company’s Newport Beach, California, headquarters, Ms Inokon alleged that “senior male officers encourage drinking and fraternisation at strip clubs, golf outings and poker nights”, and that this corporate culture influenced personnel decisions.
“Senior male managerial-level employees mentor young male professionals, give them preferential assignments, introduce them to the investment firm’s power brokers, and groom them for membership in the investment firm’s leadership, even when their professional skills and qualifications are notably deficient,” the complaint said.
Ms Inokon, who has worked for Pimco for eight years and is still employed by the company, alleged she was passed over for several senior positions — including executive senior vice-president — “in favour of less-qualified males” because of her “race, gender and pregnancy”.
Read also: FG records $9.29bn Investment announcements in Q3-NIPC
The suit further alleges that as a result of her two pregnancies, Pimco “took away opportunities, reassigned projects to less-qualified males”, subjected her to “unfair criticism” and attempted to induce her to “give up her career”.
- Over $600 million raised, countless opportunities unleashed: SAO, the Nigerian investment experts here to elevate your investments.
- Empowering Women: Altinvest's call to embrace the gold standard for timeless financial growth #WomenThatAltinvest
- Answering Jigawa’s call for investments given its enablers.
Michael Reid, a spokesman at Pimco, told the Financial Times: “The allegations in this filing, in relation to Pimco’s employee policies generally and the specific circumstances of this employee, are not accurate and Pimco will demonstrate that she was treated and compensated fairly based on her role and performance.”
The lawsuit is unusual in the finance industry, which has nurtured a culture that tends to keep discrimination and harassment complaints out of the courts, critics say.
The suit seeks monetary damages, Ms Inokon’s appointment as an executive senior vice-president, and an audit of Pimco compensation practices to see whether they comply with federal civil rights laws or need to be corrected.
“This is not about getting money from it,” said Nancy Abrolat, the attorney representing Ms Inokon. “This is about trying to bring to light a very, very wealthy company — and why aren’t they complying with our laws?”
Ms Inokon also alleged that despite her “record of superior performance,” Pimco has paid her less than “similarly situated men,” most of whom are Caucasian, throughout her career.
“Compensation and promotional decisions at Pimco are centrally controlled by its managing directors with considerations also provided by Pimco’s executive committee and through its executive officers that when viewed collectively are predominantly Caucasian male professionals,” the lawsuit said.
Women hold three of the nine seats on Pimco’s executive committee and account for 13 of its 80 managing directors. Pimco has never employed an African-american managing director, the lawsuit alleged.
