Sterling Jewelers Sued For Sexual Discrimination - May.2007

A group of female employees in several states are claiming sex discrimination in a lawsuit against Sterling Jewelers.

Sterling is America’s second largest jeweler.

The suit was filed in federal court for the Southern District of New York by 15 current and former female employees of the Akron, Ohio-based jewelry retailer who have worked at stores located in New York, Florida, California, Texas, Indiana, Missouri, Massachusetts, Nevada, and New Jersey, according to statement by the law firm of Cohen Milstein Hausfeld & Toll, PLLC, co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs.

The suit claims Sterling Jewelers "has engaged in a pattern or practice of sex discrimination by denying female retail sales employees equal opportunities to be promoted into and within management jobs, and by paying them less than men performing the same work, at the same levels, in the same stores and at the same time period."

The company denies the charges. v