S&P sued for 'gender bias' axe

WASHINGTON: Rosario Buendia, a former managing director in Standard & Poor���s structured-finance ratings group, says in a lawsuit that McGraw-Hill Cos discriminated against women in reorganizing the bond-rating subsidiary���s leadership.

Since credit markets collapsed in August 2007, S&P has replaced at least five female executives with men, according to the complaint filed on March 6 in New York State Supreme Court. The dismissals allegedly came as the parent company announced four rounds of job cuts at S&P eliminating 512 positions.

McGraw-Hill ���favored male employees and discriminated against women,��� according to Buendia���s complaint, which says she was paid ���considerably less than her male counterparts, despite her exemplary performance.��� Buendia seeks $5 million in compensatory damages and a $15 million punitive award.

Financial institutions are cutting jobs as they reel from $1.3 trillion of subprime mortgage-related writedowns and losses. The economic contraction disguises ���the growing trend by companies of using��� job reductions ���to cover up the discriminatory treatment��� of women, minorities and older workers, says New York labor attorney Douglas Wigdor.

McGraw-Hill, based in New York, says Buendia���s lawsuit is unfounded. ���As a company recognized for treating employees fairly and valuing the contributions of its workforce, we believe this suit to be without merit and will defend against it vigorously,��� company spokesman Frank Briamonte said.