U.S. Agency Sues J.P. Morgan Over Employee Discrimination Claims
A recent lawsuit is showing that even the nation’s largest financial firms are not above the law when it comes to labor and employment discrimination.
Reports from TV 10 WBNS in Central Ohio show that a mother of four who worked as mortgage consultant for J.P Morgan Chase is the plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by the U.S. EEOC that alleges women at the firm were the subjects of a hostile work environment.
Aimee Doneyhue, who was hired at J.P. Morgan while pregnant with her fourth child, says she was subjected to harassment, denied pay and then fired by email after speaking with the company’s human resources department.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has found merit in Doneyhue’s case and has filed suit against J.P. Morgan Chase, the bank now famous for its 2008 acquisition of the ailing Bear Sterns financial firm. J.P. Morgan representatives have no comment, according to the report.
The case brought against J.P. Morgan, which is in the process of being expanded into a class action suit to involve other female employees, shows that even employers among our national institutions can be liable to claims of workplace discrimination. In comments to TV 10, Doneyhue said that was always the point of her effort.
Each successful employment discrimination case provides precedent for holding U.S. employers to a higher standard and making sure that each employee is valued in the workplace. The U.S. EEOC, which is tasked with aiding workers with grievances such as Doneyhue’s, provides extensive online assistance on their website for making sure employees have the resources they need to start building a workplace discrimination case in conjunction with professional labor and employment law attorneys. In taking on J.P. Morgan, the federal agency is proving that though banking institutions may be “too big to fail,” they are not too big to treat their workers fairly.
Michael Monheit is the managing lawyer at Monheit Law, outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has practiced law since 1989. Michael Monheit was the managing attorney of the law offices of Herbert Monheit — now Silverman and Fodera — a firm... Michael Monheit→