A lawsuit claiming gender discrimination was filed against one of the "Big Four" accounting giants KPMG, according to a
PRNewswire.com. Women make up just about half of the employees at KPMG, however they seem to be missing from top management positions. The lawsuit was filed by a former female Senior Manager Donna Kassman.
- KPMG has a 20 member global executive team and 24 member global board with only one female representative on each team
- Woman are only 18% of all KPMG Partners compared to 50% of all employees
- KPMG's 18% (female) Partner promotion is less than the industry average of 23%
- They promote fewer woman to Senior Manager at 35% compared to the industry average of 44%
Kassman worked for KPMG for seventeen years before she decided to resign due to gender discrimination. Despite Kassman's outstanding performance and long tenure, she was refused her promotion after being told she was next in line as Managing Director.
During the time she was to receive the promotion, 2 male employees began to complain that she was "unapproachable" and "too direct," causing her to be subject to numerous hostile interrogations and eventually to lose her chance of the promotion. The two male employees were then given the opportunity for the promotion.
Kassman also alleges that woman are underpaid as well. There was an incident where KPMG cut her base salary by $20,000 while she was on maternity leave, claiming that she was paid too much. She was also placed on a performance improvement plan after returning.
The $350 million discrimination class action lawsuit was filed in US District Court for the Southern District of New York.