Sterling Jewelers
Female employees of Sterling Jewelers sue for discrimination in pay and promotion
On July 1, 2011, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued an important ruling in Jock et al. v. Sterling Jewelers Inc. finding that the Arbitrator properly held that the Claimants could seek to pursue their gender-discrimination claims in a class arbitration. The decision reversed a district court order that had found that the Arbitrator exceeded her powers in allowing the claimants to seek class certification of their discrimination claims. The Second Circuit’s decision can be viewed here.
The Claimants are current and former female employees of Sterling Jewelers Inc. (“Sterling”) who have alleged they were paid less than similarly-situated male employees or were denied promotional opportunities because of their gender. The Claimants have worked at stores, owned by Sterling, that operate under the brand names: Kay Jewelers, Jared the Galleria of Jewelry, Marks and Morgan Jewelers, J.B. Robinson Jewelers, LeRoy’s Jewelers, Osterman Jewelers, Goodman Jewelers, Weisfield Jewelers, Shaw’s Jewelers, Friedlanders Jewelers, Rogers Jewelers, and Belden Jewelers.
Next, the Claimants plan to seek to pursue their claims collectively as a class action on behalf of similarly-situated female employees who work or worked in any of Sterling’s brand stores on or after February 27, 2003.
It is very important that anyone, female or male, who has information about these discrimination allegations or more generally about how Sterling has treated its women employees, please call Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC at (202) 408-4600 (David Greenberg), or send an email to dgreenberg@cohenmilstein.com providing your contact information and where you worked for Sterling. You may also contact our co-counsel Thomas A. Warren Law Offices, P.L., (Misty McKinnon) toll-free at (866) 854-5152; or Burr and Smith, LLP at (813) 253-2010 or (866) 647-3110. We are interested in speaking with former or current employees, both male and female. (Please note that we are not ethically permitted to discuss the case with current managers unless they believe they have experienced or are experiencing gender discrimination at Sterling).
Background History of Case
The case, Jock et al. v. Sterling Jewelers Inc., AAA Case No. 11 160 00655 08, was filed in March 2008 with the American Arbitration Association, a private agency that manages arbitrations, rather than in court, because Sterling’s alternative dispute resolution program called the RESOLVE Program requires that employees bring claims of this kind before an arbitrator, who acts as a private judge. Current and former female employees of Sterling sued Sterling under federal civil rights laws alleging that they were paid less than men doing the same work at the same stores and have been denied chances for promotion into salaried jobs because of their gender. The Claimants’ First Amended Complaint can be viewed here.
Sterling denied that it has committed any discrimination and argued that, in any event, its RESOLVE Program does not permit these women to pursue this case as a class action.
On June 1, 2009, the Arbitrator issued an order finding that Sterling’s RESOLVE Program did not prohibit the Claimants in Jock from bringing their claims together in a class action in arbitration. The Arbitrator’s decision permitting the claimants to seek class certification of their discrimination claims is linked here.
On July 1, 2011, the U.S. Court of Appeals in New York upheld the Claimants’ right to seek class certification in the arbitration.
Prior to filing the demand for arbitration, at least fifteen current or former female employees of Sterling filed charges of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”). On January 3, 2008, the EEOC issued a Determination finding that Sterling subjected them and other female employees working at its stores in this country who have retail sales responsibilities to a pattern or practice of sex discrimination by paying women less than men doing the same work and denying women the same chance for promotion into salaried jobs. On September 23, 2008, the EEOC filed its own lawsuit against Sterling alleging a pattern or practice of gender discrimination in its pay and promotion decisions very similar to the case pending in arbitration. The EEOC’s case is pending in federal court in Buffalo, New York. The EEOC’s Determination and Complaint can be viewed here (EEOC Determination) and here (EEOC Complaint).