CIGNA Hit with Gender Discrimination Suit

A female CIGNA Corp. manager has filed a lawsuit with the Philadelphia-based health insurer on Thursday, claiming the company unfairly blocks female employees from promotions.

The lawsuit, Karp v. Cigna Healthcare, was filed in U.S. District Court in Boston and asks for class-action status and seeks $100 million in damages. The plaintiff, Bretta Karp, claims in the suit that CIGNA denied her a promotion because she was “too aggressive" in a job interview and subsequently punished her after she complained.

The suit charges the company with violating the U.S. Civil Rights Act and further contends that CIGNA uses its employee-evaluation systems to block female workers from advancing into higher-paid positions traditionally been held by male employees.

“We have just received the complaint and are reviewing it,” CIGNA spokesperson Joe Mondy said in an e-mail message to Insurance Networking News. “We are committed to diversity and equal opportunity; our workplace policies expressly prohibit discrimination in any form and we intend to fully defend against the complaint.”