Ex-Putnam Fund Manager Files Sex Discrimination Lawsuit

A disgruntled investment manager who was fired from Putnam Investments has slapped her former employer with a $25 million sex-discrimination lawsuit, accusing the firm of fomenting a chauvinistic work atmosphere, the Associated Press reports.

Lisa Svensson, who managed Putnam's Global Natural Resources Fund until 2003, said the company systematically blocked women from advancing to senior positions and criticized her when she sought promotions.

Her employment file reveals the firm identified her as "volatile" after requests for promotions while male peers who sought and ultimately achieved advances were deemed "aggressive."

Svennson said in her lawsuit she was terminated after surfacing as a whistleblower who informed her supervisor, Joshua Brooks, that improper practices made the firm a target for regulators. The firm was later engulfed in a regulatory scandal that prompted investors to redirect billions of dollars in assets.

On top of that, Putnam paid $55 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that some of its managers engaged in rapid short-term trading of their own funds, prompting some pension funds to fire Putnam.