On International Women’s Day, a statue of a young girl boldly staring down the Wall Street Bull was commissioned by the financial firm McCann New York to highlight the issues with the industry and how it treats women. McCann New York pointed out that “one in four of the 3,000 largest traded US companies don’t have a single woman on their board.” They went on to say in a statement that they were dedicated to a message of gender equality in the workplace.
“A key contributor to effective independent board leadership is a diversity of thought, which requires directors with different skills, backgrounds, and expertise. Today, we are calling on companies to take concrete steps to increase gender diversity on their boards and have issued clear guidance to help them begin to take action.”
The “Fearless Girl” statue managed to ruffle some feathers, even leading to a competing art installation of a dog peeing on the girl’s leg. Still, many embraced it as a visual representation of the struggle that many women face. However, in disappointing news, State Street Corp., the parent company of the investment firm, was audited for discriminatory practices. According to reports, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs began auditing the bank as early as 2012 based on troubling date from 2010 and 2011.
Their findings led to State Street Corp. agreeing to pay out a combined $5 million — $4.5 million in back pay and $500,000 in interest — to more than 300 women and 15 black employees after it was discovered that they were paid less than their white male contemporaries.
In a statement, State Street Corp. claimed that while they disagreed with the outcome, they were renewing their dedication to equality in the workplace.
“State Street is committed to equal pay practices and evaluates on an ongoing basis our internal processes to be sure our compensation, hiring and promotions programs are nondiscriminatory. While we disagreed with the OFCCP’s analysis and findings, we have cooperated fully with them, and made a decision to bring this six-year-old matter to resolution and move forward.”
While it’s always frustrating to see a company use actual issues as mere marketing techniques, hopefully the fall out will help create a culture of transparency and equality.
(Via AdWeek)