The three plaintiffs in the Goldman lawsuit are H. Cristina Chen-Oster, who worked in the firm’s equities division from 1997 to 2005 and was promoted to vice president; Lisa Parisi, who worked in the asset management group from 2001 to 2008 and was promoted to managing director; and Shanna Orlich, who worked in the firm’s fixed-income unit from 2007 to 2008 as an associate. -- as reported by NYTimes, 9/15.

    H. Cristina Chen-Oster, 39.   Lives in New Jersey, and was employed by Goldman Sachs from March 1997 to March 2005.  She reportedly gave the most detailed accusations.  Ms. Chen-Oster worked mostly in sales on Goldman’s convertible-bond desk.  It's alleged that shortly after she joined Goldman in 1997 a celebration for a recently promoted male colleague took place at Scores, a New York strip club, and all the employees were encouraged to join.  At the end of the night, it's alleged that a married male colleague escorted her to her boyfriend’s apartment building and in the hallway lobby pinned her against the wall, kissing and groping her.  That episode, which the male colleague reported to his supervisor the next morning, led to Ms. Chen-Oster’s experiencing “increased hostility and marginalization at the firm,” according to the complaint. 

Ms. Chen-Oster details her compensation throughout:  in her 2nd year at the firm, Goldman paid her $475,000, a number she claims was significantly less than that of her male peers.  By 2000, a year in which the stock market peaked, she was paid $800,000, a figure she contends was at least 50% less than that paid to male counterparts.  Ms. Chen-Oster resigned from Goldman and now works as a managing director at Deutsche Bank.

    Shanna Orlich, 30.   Lives in New Jersey, and was emplaoyed by Goldman Sachs during the summer of 2006 and from July 2007 to November 2008.  She portrays a male-dominated trading-floor culture centered on golf and other physical pursuits. Ms. Orlich, who had a combined JD/MBA from Columbia, claims she was assigned clerical work, and was asked by a senior analyst to set up his Blackberry and to answer calls from his wife.  She further alleged that Goldman’s management would challenge one of her male colleagues, a former member of the Navy Seals, to do push-up contests and “other displays of masculinity.” She claims to have never been invited to frequent golf outings, even though she was a varsity player in high school.  She further alleges that a Goldman MD hired scantily clad female escorts wearing Santa hats to attend a holiday party, Ms. Orlich claims..  . 

    Lisa Parisi, 48.   Lives in Georgia, and was employed by Goldman Sachs from August 2001 to November 2008 - in March 2006, she moved offices from New York to Atlanta.  It's alleged that, "A male employee who began at Goldman Sachs around the same time as Parisi experienced the same growth in assets under management as Parisi - from approximately $4bn in 2001 to between $40 and $50bn in 2007.  From 2001 to 2007 his compensation doubled. In contrast, Parisi’s compensation dropped 60% from 2005 to 2007.”   [NYT, et al,  9/15]