One-in-ten 'approached women' join KPMG US lawsuit
Nearly 900 female fee-earners, associated with KPMG US, join gender discrimination class action lawsuit against the firm
ONE-IN-TEN KPMG US current and former female fee-earners, contacted to join a class-action suit against the firm, have signed up.
Lawyers contacted 9,000 current and former fee-earning female staff from KPMG in the US, in October 2014, to join the class action. A former KPMG manager, Donna Kassman, spent 17 years in the firm’s New York office before resigning, claiming that she and other women had suffered gender discrimination.
A statement from law firm Sanford Heisler, which is representing the class action, revealed that nearly 900 women had opted to join the case. The proportion of current to former female employees opted into the class action is currently unknown. The response period for joining the case ends on 31 January.
In response, KPMG stated: “We will not comment on pending litigation, except to say that KPMG thoroughly and repeatedly reviewed the allegations in this case and found them totally unsupported by the facts.
“KPMG is deeply committed to the career advancement of women and confronting the challenges women too often face in the workplace, and we take very seriously any concern about discrimination or unfair treatment. KPMG is replete with and led by many talented and successful women and, as we have noted previously, diversity and inclusion have long been priorities for the firm.”
The opportunity to enter the class action was granted by a US district judge on 3 October.