Cohen's Point72 Says Executive Suing Over Bias Is Seeking Press

(Bloomberg) -- Steven A. Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management LP said a female executive suing over alleged gender bias is attempting to generate news coverage to help her cause.

By filing her case in court and not proceeding with arbitration, she has made a "gratuitous disclosure of highly confidential information," Cohen’s lawyers wrote.

Lauren Bonner, who joined Point72 in August 2016, sued the firm in February in New York federal court. She claims the fund hired and promoted fewer women than men, paid her less than male counterparts with equal or fewer responsibilities and had only one woman portfolio manager and only one female managing director.

Point72 urged U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres again on Tuesday to force the allegations to be heard outside of court, saying Bonner has conceded that she signed an employment agreement that requires such claims to be heard in a confidential arbitration proceeding.

Former McKinsey & Co. consultant Doug Haynes left the hedge fund earlier this month amid allegations by Bonner and former employees that the $11 billion firm is run as a "boy’s club" where women face discrimination and lower pay than men. Haynes, who was hired by Point72 to improve oversight at the firm, is a defendant in Bonner’s case.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Dolmetsch in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan at cdolmetsch@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Paul Cox

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