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Oct. 24--Two female former employees of CA Inc. have each filed an $81-million lawsuit against the Islandia-based business software giant, accusing it of discriminating against them because they are working mothers.
Karen Kontos and Jodie Imbriano both worked in sales at the company. And both said they were driven from the company by supervisors who are biased against women with young children. The women said the supervisors denied them promotions, sometimes favoring less accomplished men, according to their lawsuits, which were filed last month in U.S. District Court in Central Islip.
"We saw two immensely talented women doomed to failure simply because they had young kids at home," said the women's attorney, David Gabor, of Gabor & Gabor in Garden City.
After about 10 years with CA, formerly Computer Associates, Kontos quit in July 2005. Imbriano quit in May 2005, after about seven years with the company.
Without addressing specifics of the complaint, CA denied any wrongdoing.
"CA believes these lawsuits are wholly without merit and plans to vigorously defend itself," a spokeswoman said in a statement.
Imbriano, 32, said her troubles began when she returned from maternity leave in September 2004, after having her youngest child. The Sea Cliff resident has two other children, ages 6 and 7. According to her complaint:
Despite remaining active during maternity leave and returning a week early to help close a $460,000 deal, Imbriano didn't get her old job back as promised.
Instead, her new manager, a senior vice president, assigned her to a business-development job and told her it was comparable to her old job. But it wasn't, she said, because it didn't pay commissions. He agreed to let her perform some sales and earn commissions. But some commissions were revoked.
He demanded that she make herself accessible by phone. He called her as early as 7 a.m. and as late as 10 p.m. If he heard her kids in the background, he complained.
After she complained to human resources, she found herself without any assignments for almost two months in 2005.
"Men with less [sales] amounts were being recommended for sales jobs I wanted," she said in a recent interview.
Kontos, a 41-year-old Dix Hills resident, has three children, ages 5, 9 and 13. According to her complaint: She was recognized as a top regional sales performer in 2001 and 2002.
In August 2003, Kontos, who declined to be interviewed, began reporting to a new manager.
The following year, after she applied for a sales representative position, the executive informed her that she wasn't getting the job and told her that CA was a demanding place to work and wasn't for everybody. The job went to a man.
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Copyright (c) 2006, Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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