Mitchell, et al. v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, Inc. (dba MetLife) was a class action brought by female sales representatives and managers of MetLife’s Financial Services Division.  The lawsuit, which was filed in 2000, alleged that MetLife maintained a “glass ceiling” by denying qualified female sales representatives and agency managers equal opportunities for promotion to entry and higher level agency management positions.  The suit also alleged that MetLife compensated female sales representatives less than similarly situated men by denying these women equal access to discretionary business development resources, including training, mentoring, and assignment of sales leads and books of business.  The case was settled and resulted in a consent decree that was approved by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.  The settlement included payment of $5,000,000 to the plaintiffs and class, and an additional $5,000,000 in programs, training and other remedies designed to increase the number of female sales representatives and managers in MetLife’s Financial Services division.  Goldstein, Borgen, Dardarian & Ho’s co-counsel in this case was Outten & Golden.