Morgan Stanley

Allison Schieffelin worked for Morgan Stanley in New York from the time she graduated from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management with her MBA. Twelve years later she was earning over a million dollars a year. In 2000 she was fired and escorted from the office days after what her employer described as “an abusive confrontation” with her boss. She filed suit and four years later settled for $12 million.

The basis of her case was that Morgan Stanley had systematically practiced sexual discrimination and retaliated when she complained. Her case had been taken up by the US government's Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) on behalf of 300 women who had worked at Morgan Stanley. If the case had gone forward, many of these women had been expected to testify against the company. One of the incidents Schieffelin recounted in her lawsuit was when two clients were invited by male colleagues to attend a weekend in Las Vegas approved by their manager. When Schieffelin asked why she wasn't included, she was told it was “because the men would be uncomfortable participating in sexually oriented entertainment with a woman colleague present, especially one who knew their wives.”

In 1996 Schieffelin had complained to the EEOC because apparently less qualified men were being promoted ahead of her, and subsequently her duties were reduced and she was passed over for promotion.