William Littleton, former ‘gay’ Goldman Sachs VP launches discrimination lawsuit claiming facing harassment and being excluded for being too gay. Wall st struggling to integrate with diverse cultures and creeds?
A former ‘gay’ vice president at financial giant, Goldman Sachs has launched a discrimination lawsuit against his former employer, alleging he was excluded from a conference call because he was told he ‘sounds too gay’.
In his suit, the former finance employee, William Littleton, 31, describes having worked at Goldman for eight years, most recently as a vice president within the product strategy group, only to be terminated after complaining to human resources over harassment claims.
‘Mr. Littleton was well aware that being openly gay at a financial institution could lead to discrimination and ridicule,’ the suit says according to the nypost.
In March 2014, the complaint claims, a moderator wanted Littleton dropped from a conference call because ‘he sounds too gay.’
A year later, on the Monday after the LGBT Pride parade in Manhattan, a day Littleton took off, one of his bosses allegedly wondered out loud: ‘Oh, Will’s not in? He must be hung over from Pride festivities.’
In 2016, Littleton’s sexual orientation was brought up again in a workplace quarrel with his boss, the complaint claims.
‘What’s wrong with you? Do you act this way because you’re gay?’ she allegedly asked him.
Littleton took his complaints to HR, with the worker’s discrimination suit claiming he was fired because of ‘performance issues.’
Littleton named Rachel Schnoll, head of Goldman’s U.S. Product Strategy Group; Skulpone, head of the company’s Specialty Solutions team; and Goldman Sachs itself, in the complaint. He is seeking unspecified monetary and compensatory damages the nydailynews reports.
‘Wall Street continues to struggle to create an environment that is inclusive and accepting of LGBTQ+ employees,’ said David Gottlieb, one of the attorneys representing Littleton. ‘Mr. Littleton’s experiences demonstrate that Goldman Sachs in particular has failed to embrace this important responsibility.’
Responded GS spokesperson, Patrick Scanlan via foxnews,’Goldman Sachs has a sustained and proven commitment to diversity, and we are proud of the vibrant and diverse LGBTQ community at the firm. We strongly encourage all of our employees to bring their authentic selves to work, because it makes us a better firm.
‘This suit is without merit, and we plan to defend ourselves against these baseless claims.’
