This Is Just Killing His Chances . . .

Exciting because it’s been a while since I’ve thought about “Kill it!”:

The federal government is suing Bloomberg L.P., the financial services and media giant founded by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, saying the company engaged in a pattern of discrimination against women after they became pregnant and took maternity leave.

In the suit, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charges that female employees at Bloomberg were demoted and had their pay cut after they disclosed that they were pregnant.

In some cases, managers questioned the women’s ability to carry out their work because of their family responsibilities, according to the suit, which was filed in United States District Court in Manhattan yesterday.

. . .

The discrimination is said to have occurred after Mr. Bloomberg became mayor in 2002, and though he remains the majority shareholder of the firm, company officials stressed yesterday that he had not been involved in its day-to-day operations since early 2001.

The case could be damaging to the mayor, however, as he seeks to boost his national profile and flirts with a presidential bid. In a similar case, Mr. Bloomberg was sued in 1997 by a sales executive who claimed that after she became pregnant, Mr. Bloomberg urged her to have an abortion, telling her, “Kill it!” and saying sarcastically, “Great! Number 16,” apparently referring to the number of pregnant women at the company. Mr. Bloomberg adamantly denied any wrongdoing and settled the case out of court for an undisclosed amount.