Proposed Class of Female Goldman Workers Survives Challenge on Commonality Grounds

A class action against Goldman Sachs & Co. alleging systemic sex discrimination by the investment banking firm against female professional employees may go forward, a federal judge in New York ruled July 17, rejecting the bank’s contention that the proposed class cannot establish “commonality” (Chen-Oster v. Goldman Sachs & Co., S.D.N.Y., 1:10-cv-06950-LBS-JCF, 7/17/12).

Partially adopting a magistrate’s recommendations, Judge Leonard B. Sand of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York for the most part denied Goldman’s motion to strike the class allegations of three female former employees.

Sand rejected the company’s argument that ...