Jury Erred in Goldman Bias Suit, Judge Rules

A federal judge, setting aside a jury’s verdict, on Monday threw out a suit charging that Goldman, Sachs & Co. committed sex discrimination when it fired a female executive.

U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood in Manhattan cut short a victory for Joanne Flynn, who accused the Wall Street firm of sex discrimination for firing her in retaliation for her dismissal of a male subordinate.

Although Goldman Sachs denied the allegations, noting that it was a woman who fired Flynn, a nine-member jury sided with her Oct. 28.

In a 31-page opinion, Wood set aside that jury verdict after concluding that Flynn, 40, did not provide enough evidence to prove that she was fired because of her gender.

“Ms. Flynn has failed to demonstrate that her sex ‘actually played a role and had a determinative influence’ on the outcome of any of Goldman Sachs’ employment decisions adverse to Ms. Flynn,” Wood wrote.

“Goldman Sachs has met its burden of showing that the verdict in this case is so strongly against the weight of the evidence that the jury’s verdict may be characterized as a ‘seriously erroneous result,’ ” Wood wrote.