Dossier claims Bloomberg abused employee who now features in his campaign, called another woman 'dog face'
Bloomberg LP employees have alleged that their CEO Michael Bloomberg allowed a toxic work culture in the company where he addressed a woman as "dog face," did not take action against an editor for giving massages to female staffers and is now championing the woman he allegedly called "fat" in his presidential candidate campaign.
Multiple complaints of alleged workplace abuse were also repeatedly ignored, according to reports.
The billionaire's presidential campaign appeared to take a hit after Senator Elizabeth Warren accused him of allowing workplace discrimination and sexual behavior at his company. Warren had accused Bloomberg during the Nevada Democratic Debate. The latter, however, denied her accusations, saying: "I have no tolerance for the kind of behavior that the #MeToo movement has exposed and anybody that does anything wrong in our company, we investigate it, and if it's appropriate, they're gone that day."
Business Insider, in a latest report, however, has claimed that Bloomberg used crude remarks routinely when referring to female employees. In one instance, the company head allegedly told a newly-pregnant staffer to "kill it." In another instance, a woman identified as Maggie Berry, in the 1990s was suggested for a promotion into a job where interacting with clients was required. Bloomberg, according to a former employee, dismissed the proposal because of Berry's physical appearance, saying: "I will not have that fat woman representing my company." A man was eventually hired for the position.
Berry, however, defended her boss in a statement to the outlet, saying: "Having Mike's backing and support has allowed me, and many other women at Bloomberg, to progress into management positions overseeing a significant part of our business. I've been with Bloomberg for 25 years, almost exclusively in client-facing roles. From my earliest days at the company, it was Mike himself who encouraged me to take a role in sales where you're constantly interacting with clients."
Berry recently featured in Bloomberg's campaign ads, where she said: "Mike supports women, he promotes women, he respects women."
Insider's source also recalled other instances where Bloomberg and other senior staffers in the company called women SFUs, a code for "short, fat, and ugly." The former employee said that the CEO allegedly created demeaning nicknames for women he found unattractive, including "dog face."
Bloomberg, however, had denied the allegations, saying that the firm "strongly supports a culture that treats all employees with dignity and respect, and enforces that culture through clear policies and practices."
Over 40 former and current employees spoke out against Bloomberg LP, and many of them mentioned the former Washington editor Al Hunt. During his time at Bloomberg News, the former editor created a reputation for a quick temper and inappropriately touching women, giving them massages without their consent.
"I remember seeing his hands move pretty rapidly between her shoulders and her arms. His hands were all over her," a source told the outlet of Hunt walking up behind female colleagues and giving them massages. Multiple human resource complaints were made against him but no appropriate action was taken, the source added. Hunt, however, has denied the allegations.