Goldman to pay $215 million to settle gender discrimination lawsuit – Bloomberg News

(Reuters) – Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:) has agreed to pay $215 million to settle a long-running class-action lawsuit that accused the investment bank of widespread bias against women in both pay and promotions, Bloomberg News reported on Monday citing a person familiar with the matter.

Last week, Reuters reported that the talks were ongoing to settle roughly a month before the trial was set to begin.

The plaintiffs alleged the bank systematically paid women less than men and gave women weaker performance reviews that impeded their career growth.

They are led by Cristina Chen-Oster, Mary De Luis and Allison Gamba, who were Goldman vice presidents, and Shanna Orlich, who was an associate.

Goldman, which has previously denied wrongdoing, declined to comment.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs at Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while Goldman’s lawyer Sullivan & Cromwell LLP was not immediately available to comment.

The lawsuit is among the highest-profile cases targeting Wall Street’s alleged unequal treatment of women, including in litigation against many banks that stretches back decades.