Court Orders Wide Ranging Discovery In High Profile Gender Discrimination Class Action

Discovery battles in high-stakes employment discrimination class actions are costly, contentious, and oftentimes can serve as a “game changer” that alters the entire landscape of a case.  A recent decision from Magistrate Judge James C. Francis IV in Chen-Oster, et al., v. Goldman, Sachs & Co., 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 148318 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 15, 2013), highlights this the wide-ranging discovery that courts may force employers to turn over in the face of a large scale class action.

Background

As we previously blogged about here, three female employees commenced this lawsuit in 2010 by filing a Rule 23 class action accusing Goldman of gender bias and having a “corporate culture” that allegedly favors men over women for pay and promotions. Namely, the plaintiffs contend that they have been discriminated against with respect to compensation, promotion, and performance evaluation. Id. at 2. 

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