The former most powerful woman at Anheuser-Busch InBev SA (NYSE:BUD) has a beef with the brewing giant. Francine Katz, former vice president of communications and consumer affairs, is suing Anheuser, claiming it promotes a "locker room" and "frat-party" atmosphere, and pays women less in salaries and bonuses than men for the same work. The 20-year Anheuser veteran filed suit Monday in state court in St. Louis.
During the $52 billion Euro-U.S. merger of InBev SA and St. Louis' Anheuser-Busch Cos., Katz -- one of two women on the brewer's 17-person strategy committee -- looked at a draft regulatory filing that showed she and the other woman were making less than their male counterparts. The St. Louis Dispatch has
details from the lawsuit, which:
alleges that when Katz was promoted in July 2002, she received all the same duties formerly assigned to John Jacob, A-B's retiring executive vice president and chief communications officer. But she did not receive the administrative assistant, office suite with a conference room or the same salary, the suit alleges.
The suit said Jacob was paid a base salary of $605,000 and a bonus of $645,000 in 2001, his last year at A-B. By contrast, Katz received $300,000 in base salary and a bonus of $200,000 in 2002, her first year in the new position.One could argue that Jacob, 74, simply had more experience than Katz, but the suit also claims a glass ceiling exists and that women have been excluded from informal social networks.
Cost-cutting Anheuser is in the midst of
unloading $7 billion in assets, and it's making good progress. But if it loses this suit, the world's No. 1 brewer will have a hard time unloading its tainted image. A statement from Anheuser said that Katz, who left in December, was "compensated fairly for her roles and responsibilities at Anheuser-Busch and treated in compliance with all relevant laws and internal standards." -
Baz HiralalGo to the story
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