A trial court judge in New York cleared for trial a portion of a gender discrimination lawsuit brought by Sara Tirschwell, a former managing director of TCW's distressed debt strategy group, against TCW; its president and CEO, David Lippman; and her former supervisor, Jess Ravich.
New York State Supreme Court Justice Robert D. Kalish, in an opinion released June 12, dismissed three of five causes of action against TCW and Mr. Lippman, including that they retaliated against her when she complained about sexual harassment by her boss and gender discrimination. The court also dismissed a claim that Mr. Lippman aided and abetted.
"Even viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to plaintiff, plaintiff fails to produce any evidence that TCW defendants treated her differently under the circumstances, due to her gender," Mr. Kalish wrote.
Mr. Kalish also threw out Ms. Tirschwell's request for punitive damages against all the parties as well as her cause of action for retaliation against Mr. Ravich.
However, Mr. Kalish among other things, let a breach of contract and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing causes of action stand.
"We are gratified by the court's decision," said Doug Morris, TCW spokesman.
“We are pleased that Mr. Ravich’s and TCW’s efforts to block this case from being heard by a jury have failed. We look forward to the trial,” said Steven Storch, managing partner at law firm Storch Byrne, Ms. Tirschwell’s lawyer.
