Two days after New York Knicks head coach Isiah Thomas was rocked by an $11.6-million verdict in a sexual-harassment suit, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is being accused of fostering and condoning "systemic, top-down discrimination against female employees" in a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit brought by three high-level executives at the financial-services company that bears his name, according to Reuters.

Tanys Lancaster, Janet Loures and Jill Patricot said they were subjected to unfair demotions and decreased compensation and were denied advancement after becoming pregnant.

At issue is how much involvement Bloomberg still has with the company. His spokesperson claims despite his majority ownership, Bloomberg has had little if anything to do with day-to-day activities at the company since he was elected mayor in 2001. The EEOC alleges the culture Bloomberg cultivated in his time there persists to this day. (See also: Stripteases, Porn, the B-Word: Isiah Thomas Is Not Alone in Sex Harassment)

Through the spokesperson, Bloomberg called the lawsuit a "publicity stunt."

In the court filings, the female employees described the Bloomberg company culture as one that "prizes physical image and once female executives announce that they are pregnant and/or become new mothers, they fall into disfavor."

The lawsuit was brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on behalf of the three plaintiffs. Pregnancy-discrimination charges filed with the EEOC and state and local agencies jumped 45 percent, from 3,385 to a record 4,901 between 1992 and 2006, according to New York-based EEOC regional attorney Elizabeth Grossman. (See also: EEOC Alert: Pregnancy-Discrimination Lawsuits Skyrocket)

"We're seeing more reports because pregnant women are aware of their rights and willing to fight for them," said Grossman. "What's surprising to me is when employers don't want to let women come back to work after maternity leave or sometimes they come back and get demoted. More than 50 percent of claims allege discharge and a lot of [discrimination] is denial of promotions and training once they have a child."

The plaintiffs in the Bloomberg case said they were paid less upon returning from maternity leave and that the company demoted those women and replaced them with "junior" male employees.

This isn't the first time Bloomberg LP has been accused of dubious practices when it comes to its female employees. The New York Times reports that Bloomberg was sued in 1997 by a female executive who said after she became pregnant, Bloomberg urged her to have an abortion, telling her to "Kill it!" She also alleged Bloomberg said, "Great! Number 16," speaking to the number of pregnant women at the company. Bloomberg denied any wrongdoing and settled the case out of court for an undisclosed amount.

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