Female Workers Accuse MetLife of Gender Discrimination

MetLife Inc., the largest U.S. life insurer, was accused in a lawsuit filed Tuesday of systematically discriminating against thousands of female job applicants and employees.

The suit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, says the New York-based insurer hires fewer women than men, pays women less, denies them promotions and sometimes fires those who complain.

Five women, four of whom still work for MetLife, are named as plaintiffs in the suit. All have worked for the company for at least eight years.

A spokesman for MetLife, whose ads feature the familiar “Peanuts” characters Snoopy and Charlie Brown, said the company had not seen the lawsuit and couldn’t comment.

“However, MetLife as a company takes very seriously the issue of equal opportunity for women,” spokesman John Calagna said.

The company insures 9 million U.S. households and says it has $1.7 trillion of life insurance in force.

The suit seeks class-action status on behalf of thousands of employees and job applicants. It requests back pay, money damages and an order barring future discrimination.

Separately Tuesday, MetLife said its first-quarter earnings will be lower than expected because of a rise in claims in its home and auto insurance business.

MetLife, which converted from a mutual to a stockholder-owned company in April, said first-quarter operating earnings will be 5 cents below its previous estimate. Analysts were expecting 52 cents.

The company said it will raise prices 2% to 3% beyond the 5% increase it announced earlier this year.

According to the plaintiffs in the suit filed Tuesday, only a quarter of MetLife’s entry-level sales posts are filled by women, and 12 of the company’s 183 managing directors are women.

None of the firm’s zone vice presidents and regional vice presidents who oversee field operations are women, said lawyer Kelly Dermody.

The suit alleges discrimination at offices in New York, North Carolina and Florida. In one case, a Durham, N.C., employee, Janet Ramsey, said she was told that a job she wanted in Pennsylvania as a regional sales manager was a “rough position,” unsuitable for women.

MetLife shares rose 83 cents to close at $31.68 on the New York Stock Exchange.