FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: MIRA WEINSTEIN, 202-331-0066 x705

NOW

STATEMENT OF NOW PRESIDENT PATRICIA IRELAND ON PROPOSED SMITH BARNEY SETTLEMENT

November 18, 1997

The settlement agreement proposed in the sexual harassment and sex discrimination case against Smith Barney is a major breakthrough in NOW's Women-Friendly Workplace Campaign. Smith Barney executives have agreed to a landmark departure from the onerous practive of mandatory arbitration of employment discrimination complaints. For the next two years, an estimated 20,000 women will have access to an alternative dispute resolution process with an unlimited fund to compensate them for losses, with damages, including punitive damages, available against the firm for complaints going back to May 1993. Although the process falls short of a jury trial in federal court, it is better than industry arbitration and a first step in reforming employment practices on Wall Street.

We are encouraged that Smith Barney will no longer "do business the old fashioned way." The firm has made an important promise to dedicate $15 million to improving opportunities for all women and for men of color over the next four years and has committed to concrete goals and time tables to measure their progress. We are delighted that feminist ally Dr. Johnetta Cole will serve as Smith Barney's diversity adviser.

NOW will monitor Smith Barney's efforts closely. We will also step-up our campaign with spring protests to pressure the Securities and Exchange Commission to approve a proposed NASD rule change eliminating mandatory arbitration of employment discrimination claims.

Link to this release at http://www.now.org/press/11-97/11-18-97.html

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