May 15, 2008 9:42

Does maternity leave harm careers?

I know; it's a cheap question. The answer is yes in some places, and no in others. The real question is: how does taking a maternity leave affect your career in your workplace?

At Bloomberg LP, apparently the answer is: like poop on a shoe. Last fall, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit on behalf of three women against the financial news and data company, accusing it of engaging "in a pattern of demoting women, diminishing their duties and excluding them from job opportunities after they disclosed they were pregnant." The women—Tanys Lancaster, Jill Patricot and Janet Loures—were all managers and senior executives...until they were in the family way, that is. From MSNBC.com:

Lancaster was said to be earning close to $300,000 in a senior position in the company's Transaction Products Department when she announced her pregnancy. "Almost immediately I began to suffer demotions, decreases in compensation as well as retaliation after I complained to Human Resources," she said in a statement.

As for the other two:

Patricot, who worked as a manager in the Global Data Division, claims that after returning to her job following maternity leave, she was demoted to an entry level position because her schedule had changed due to child care demands.

Loures was also a manager in the Global Data Division, and said her duties and staff were reduced starting with her first maternity leave and continuing through a second one. She is now employed in an entry-level clerical position, the EEOC said.

Pshaw, you say. The experiences of three women in a company that employs 10,000 do not a pattern make make. Besides, this is the firm founded and still majority-owned by the beloved mayor of New York, a well-known proponent of equal rights! Right? Well, consider this news earlier this month (from Newsday):

A lawyer has told a judge that the number of women accusing the financial services company of discrimination against employees who take maternity leave has risen from three to 58, with more likely to be added.

Oh. So here's what I want to know, especially from you ladies who weighed in about the duration of your maternity leave in this earlier post: after your leave, what consequences did you suffer—or benefit from?

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