A federal judge in New York on Monday dismissed a federal commission’s claim that national chain Sterling Jewelers had engaged in a nationwide pattern of workplace discrimination against its female employees.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Sterling — which has 16 Connecticut stores — in 2008 alleging that the company had been paying its female employees less than male employees for performing substantially equal work and denying women promotions to jobs for which they were qualified.
Sterling owns Kay Jewelers, Jared the Galleria of Jewelry and a handful of other brands.
Seyfarth Shaw, the law firm representing Sterling, said the case is the EEOC’s largest lawsuit in the country.
The EEOC filed suit on behalf of 19 female employees, asking the court to order Sterling to issue back pay to them, as well as other female retail employees.
But U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Arcara concurred Monday with a magistrate judge’s recommendation that Sterling’s request for summary judgment be granted and that the discrimination claim be dismissed because EEOC could not prove it had conducted a nationwide investigation of its claims, but rather relied on wage data compiled by a hired economist.
Seyfarth said the ruling is a major setback for the EEOC’s case. A spokeswoman for the EEOC said that the commission is considering its options, but had no further comment.
