Pacific Investment Management Co. was hit with additional accusations of gender discrimination, harassment and bullying by 21 current and former female employees in a letter sent to the money manager on Jan. 28.
"We have been stripped of responsibilities because we sought accommodations for health issues; passed over for rightful promotions and pay raises in favor of men; micromanaged, humiliated and screamed at in front of others; and retaliated against for taking our complaints to (PIMCO's) human resources (department)," the women said in the letter.
The treatment they received while working at PIMCO "is against the law, as many of us have already alleged in court," the women said.
Sue Collazo, vice president of alternative operations, and Lisa Anthony, a manager on PIMCO's client management support team — who both signed the letter — filed suit against PIMCO in November alleging gender and disability discrimination, harassment and retaliation.
In their letter, the women called on PIMCO to "rectify these longstanding issues and create a company that provides equal opportunity and treatment to everyone regardless of their race, gender or disability."
They also demanded that PIMCO's board of directors commits to a five-year plan to diversify the firm's senior ranks, including targets for women and Black employees in the managing director, executive vice president, senior vice president and vice president positions.
PIMCO spokesman Michael Reid said in an interview that 19% of PIMCO's 77 managing directors are women and 21% of executive directors are female.
In a statement provided by Mr. Reid, the firm said: "PIMCO's policies and procedures prohibit discrimination, harassment, and retaliation of any kind and the firm takes claims of such conduct very seriously. PIMCO promptly investigates and responds appropriately to allegations of misconduct. As soon as these claims were brought to our attention, PIMCO engaged a highly experienced, third-party expert to conduct an independent review of these matters. This was done several weeks before the executive committee received the letter."
The statement went on to say that PIMCO has already addressed the measures requested in the women's letter, including conducting an annual review of promotion and pay data and demographics to prevent biases; putting in place a business strategy that focuses on inclusion, representation and retention of diverse talent; and implementing strict anti-retaliation procedures in place and immediately conducts thorough reviews of any allegations. An ombudsman service has been available since 2018 to provide external, confidential, neutral, independent and informal services to discuss any workplace issues and concerns.
In a Jan. 29 joint memo to PIMCO employees, CEO Emmanuel Roman and CIO Daniel Ivascyn said: "We want to make it clear that PIMCO is unequivocally committed to inclusion, diversity and equity and that we have a zero tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind."
