On this day in Labor History the year was 1997.
That was the day that a group of female employees at the investment firm Smith Barney came to a tentative agreement to settle a sexual harassment law suit against the firm.
Smith Barney was one of the oldest Wall Street firms, with a reputation for respectability.
But behind closed doors the firm more closely resembled what the Chicago Tribune described as a “fraternity-house atmosphere.”
The accounts women told of their treatment at the firm were lewd and disgusting.
In the basement of the Garden City, New York office there was a room called the “Boom, boom room,” where female employees were told to entertain clients.
Fed up with this treatment, more than 20 women joined together and filed a class-action law suit.
To settle the suit, the firm agreed to invest $15 million in diversity training, along with settlements to the harassed women.
But sexual harassment of women in the financial industry was not only a problem at Smith Barney.
Female brokers in Chicago filed a suit against Merrill Lynch, who agreed to a settlement with the plaintiffs.
Smith Barney also did not learn its lesson.
Just over a decade later, the firm again settled another sexual harassment law suit to the tune of 33 million.
This time according to Forbes Magazine, the suit was filed by “four female brokers who accused Smith Barney of preventing them from competing fairly for new accounts, promotions and pay, and depriving women of equal training and sales support.”
Over the course of fifteen years Merrill Lynch paid out almost half a billion dollars in discrimination suits to women and minority brokers.
November 7 - Eisenhower Wields Taft-Hartley
November 6 - The Fight for Equality
November 5 - The Everett Massacre
November 4 - Will Rogers is Born
November 3 - The Greensboro Massacre
November 2 - Sixteen Tons
November 1 - The Deadly Consequences of Scabbing
October 31 - Happy Union Made Halloween
October 30 - Wall St. Lays an Egg
October 29 - Alice Doesn’t Day
October 28 - The Pony Express
October 27 - The 1948 Donora Smog
October 26 - America’s Florence Nightingale
October 25 - NY Daily News On Strike!
October 24 - Eight Hours for Work, Eight Hours for Rest, Eight Hours for What We Will!
October 23 - John Sweeney is Elected
October 22 - Pretty Boy Floyd Is Gunned Down
October 21 - Through Rain, Sleet, Snow & Anthrax
October 20 - Remembering Debs
October 19 - Tragedy on the Tracks
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