Lawsuit for General Electric

Workplace Buzz on June 4, 2007 7:45 AM

Diane Brady for BusinessWeek Online asks GE: Still Holding Women Back?

Since coming to the top job at General Electric (NYSE:GE - News) in 2001, Jeffrey Immelt has basked in the aura of being today's man. He wants his businesses to help save the environment, he waxes eloquent about China and obscure markets in the Middle East, and he talks often about the necessity of diversity in the top ranks (see BusinessWeek.com, 9/11/06, "General Electric, the Immelt Way").

Now one of the company's top lawyers has slapped Immelt, GE, and a slew of other senior executives with a $500 million lawsuit that claims she--and other executive-level women at GE--are systematically discriminated against. Not only does the company underpay women in comparable jobs held by men, she says, but it promotes them at a slower rate and has failed to make any progress under Immelt's watch.

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