More Charges of Discrimination Leveled Against American Express

Two women in New Jersey have filed charges against American Express Financial Advisors that raise the same allegations of sex discrimination as charges filed by four women in Minnesota back in October 1999.

According to the charges, these two women claim that male advisors were given accounts and leads that were not given to female advisors. The supervisor of one of the women, Liz Bradler, took her to lunch and allegedly tried to persuade her to let him come to her apartment. When she refused, Ms. Bradler claims he said "Don't you want any accounts?"

Less than two weeks later, the supervisor gave her 10 accounts but gave 200 accounts to a lesser-qualified male advisor, according to the complaint. The District Manager of the other woman, Eleni Kulinski, assigned each of her male colleagues 100 new leads, but kept the 100 that were supposed to go to her. Only after he had tried to call each of them himself did he turn 21 of the unsuccessful leads over to her, the suit alleges.

The plaintiffs' attorneys said the same district manager told Ms. Kulinski on her first day that, "You will not make it in this business because you are a woman. Women would rather stay home and have a man take care of them. The only people who succeed in this business are white males."

"The experiences of these women are typical of how American Express Financial Services management has viewed women as not being as capable as men," said the women's attorney, Susan Stokes.

Both women allegedly complained to human resources about their discriminatory treatment, but said their complaints were ignored.

"I was shocked to see the callousness with which American Express Financial Advisors treats its female advisors," Stokes said. "I would think that their management would have learned a lesson from the lawsuits that were filed against Smith Barney and Merrill Lynch, but it appears they have not."

The women are represented both by Sprenger & Lang, which also has offices in Washington, D.C., and Miller-O'Brien-Bloom, an employment litigation firm in Minneapolis.