A financial marketing executive started missing work because she was on a grand jury, which ultimately led her boss to fire her, a new gender discrimination suit claims.
Catherine Cardaci alleges the asset manager VanEck Associates Corp., where she was employed as chief marketing officer, was a boys’ club where better-performing female staffers earned less and were treated worse than male counterparts.
With the “prejudiced atmosphere towards women at VanEck and the scrutiny to which female employees’ requests for leave were judged,” it was “no surprise” she was told she was being fired about a week after saying telling her boss there would be an extension in her grand jury duty, which occasionally pulled her out of work, Cardaci’s lawsuit alleges.
Cardaci’s lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Manhattan Federal Court, claims pay discrimination and violations of various labor and anti-discrimination laws.
Catherine Cardaci’s lawsuit alleges pay discrimination, and violations of various labor and anti-discrimination laws.
She joined VanEck in 2014, and reported to Jan van Eck, the firm’s director and CEO. She was the first woman in the firm’s history to report directly to the CEO, according to her complaint.
VanEck’s general counsel told MarketWatch the firm is ready to fight a case it views as “baseless.”
The Manhattan Federal lawsuit was filed a day ahead of a report from McKinsey & Co. and LeanIn.org on gender workplace issues. After surveying 64,000 North American employees at 280 companies, the report said men and women have different views on how their gender plays into their career arc.
Twenty-four percent of women said gender had something to do with a missed raise, promotion or chance to get ahead. Eight percent of men felt the same way.
Cardaci’s claims echo female frustrations voiced in the report, which noted that women account for 19% of the C-Suite at asset managers and institutional investors.
The 57-year-old plaintiff’s court papers say she’s had a “long and successful career” that’s included time at well-known companies like BlackRock, CitiGroup Asset Management C, -1.11% and HSBC Global Asset Management HSBC, -1.24%
VanEck CEO was allegedly dismissive of female staffers
About a month after coming aboard, Cardaci met with about 20 female VanEck staffers.
They complained, among other things, about women facing curtailed duties and harsh performance evaluations after returning from maternity leave.
When Cardaci mentioned the concern to another executive, he warned her Jan van Eck wouldn’t want to hear it.
The CEO was dismissive of female staffers and “men-only social events were common,” the suit claims.
In September 2017, Cardaci discussed a possible promotion for a 33-year-old subordinate. “What if she gets pregnant?” van Eck allegedly wondered, according to the court filing. He first balked at the promotion but later gave approval, “which he did while still conveying his general disapproval.”
The CEO was dismissive of female staffers and ’men-only social events were common,’ the suit claims.
In April, Cardaci told work she’d need to take “intermittent leaves” because she’d been picked for grand jury duty in Manhattan Federal Court.
Within a couple of months, van Eck was allegedly invoking out-of-the-blue job criticisms Cardaci had never heard before.
In August, Cardaci told her boss her grand jury duty had been stretched to at least February 2019. Nine days later, Jan van Eck told her the company was moving in a “different direction.” He was “tired of doing everything for himself,” van Eck allegedly said in a conversation that was thin on Cardaci’s specific missteps, according to the court filing.
Cardaci was initially supposed to stay on through 2018. But when she hired an attorney, Cardaci said her firing sped up to a September termination date.
Jonathan Simon, VanEck’s general counsel, told MarketWatch, “It has been brought to our attention that Ms. Cardaci has filed a frivolous complaint against us. We believe the complaint is meritless and will vigorously defend ourselves from these baseless allegations.”
VanEck manages about $46.1 billion in assets, as of last month.
Cardaci’s lawyer declined to comment or make his client available for an interview.
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