On February 12, 2018, Wigdor LLP filed a lawsuit on behalf of Plaintiff Lauren Bonner, Associate Director at Point72 Asset Management L.P. (“Point72”), alleging claims of gender discrimination, retaliation and violations of federal and state equal pay laws against Point72 and billionaire hedge fund manager Steven A. Cohen. Mr. Cohen founded Point72 to manage his personal fortune after insider trading charges shut down his former firm, S.A.C. Capital Advisors.
The lawsuit alleged that female employees at Point72 were subjected to a hostile and discriminatory boys’ club atmosphere where Ms. Bonner and other women were routinely passed over for promotions, paid far less than their male counterparts, subjected to blatant sexist and sexual remarks, and retaliated against if they dared to report gender bias.
The lawsuit received global media attention and was lauded by The New York Times as “among the most prominent to accuse a major Wall Street firm of misconduct amid a national reckoning on sexual harassment.” Ms. Bonner was named “The Face of #MeToo on Wall Street” by The New Yorker and discussed her claims in an on-air interview with globally renowned journalist Christiane Amanpour. Point72’s former president Douglas D. Haynes, who was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit, resigned just one month after the lawsuit was filed.