A New Lawsuit Against Zillow Alleges Company Believes Women Over 40 'Can't Keep Up' | ||
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A new lawsuit has been filed against $4.7 billion real estate database company Zillow, alleging that it discriminates against its female employees over 40-years-old. This is the second lawsuit filed against Zillow this week; the first being one alleging that Zillow maintains a "frat culture" within its company, where female employees are subjected to "sexual torture." You can read about that case here. In this new case, a single 41-year-old mother of two named Jennifer Young is suing after being fired by Zillow. Young alleges she was harassed about her age by management prior to the firing, which she says happened because she "checked into a hospital to treat injuries sustained in a car accident," Valleywag reports.
From the court documents obtained by Business Insider from the law firm representing Young, Geragos & Geragos (see below for the full suit): Ms. Young was quickly exposed to Zillow's "frat house" and "boys club culture" where binge drinking and the willingness to participate in lewd discourse was rewarded by lucrative assignments in the form of Zillow managers routing incoming calls for potential sales leads. As a result of Ms. Young not participating in the conduct described above, Ms. Young's sales manager would make comments to her during the course of her work day such as "are you too old to close?" and "try to keep up with us." It was commonplace at the Zillow office for managers to inform employees, including Ms. Young, that if you do not "drink the Zillow kool-aid" there would be no opportunity for career advancement. Young says due to injuries she sustained in a car accident over the summer, she checked into a hospital. Even though she notified CEO Spencer Rascoff, Valleywag reports, she was fired by Zillow for "job abandonment." Young claims she was still in the hospital during this time. You can read the whole suit: Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Awe-Inspiring Images From Friday's Orion Launch | ||
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NASA's Orion spacecraft succesfully launched early on Friday, Dec. 5, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The liftoff was postponed on Thursday due to issues with the launch rocket, wind gusts, and a boat that strayed into a hazard zone. Below are some beautiful pictures from today's launch. Orion will reach an altitude of 3,600 miles, and orbit earth twice, before splashing down into the Pacific ocean later this morning:
Here's an aerial view of the launch site: | ||
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What Are Traders Chatting About Right Now? The Jobs Report Whisper Number... (DIA, SPY, SPX, QQQ) | ||
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JonesTrading's Dave Lutz has a roundup of what traders are chatting about right now: Morning, Happy NFP Day! Street is expecting 230k, but many expecting upside, so the “Whisper” is closer to ~275k (A Beat will be explained by seasonality, while a miss will be blamed on tough November Weather). Europe is having a strong day, as German Factory orders come in much stronger than expected, launching the DAX 1.4%, but volumes remain tepid as we away US Jobs. Increased chatter of ECB QE has PIIGS debt jumping, helping the EU banks gain 2.3%, while German Industrials are leading gains as well. Over in Asia, the action was in China – The Shanghai had a 6% intraday swing in record volumes on heavy retail flow. The Nikkei gained 20bp, HK continues to lag on Protests – while Aussie lost 60bp as Miners retreated. The US 10YY seeing some relief as flattener trades subside a bit, while the German 10YY is off 2bp as the Bundesbank slashes growth forecasts. The $ is rallying as well, reigning most of yesterday’s losses, as the $/* breaks toward 121 as Nomura puts a Y125 target on the pair - causing a headwind for commodities. That said, Copper is headed for its biggest weekly gain since August (China). The Oil complex remains under pressure as Saudi widened its discount for Arab Light sales to Asia yesterday, but WTI continues to outperform Brent (USA Growth). Gold is breaking downside of $1200/oz, so will be important to the Gold Bugs that it recovers back above, or the short could take hold. Scheduled Catalysts today include NFP, at 8:30 - at 8:45 Fed's Mester Speaks on Financial Stability, at 10 we get factory Orders, then at 1 watch the Baker Hughes Rig Count. At 2:45 Fed's Fischer Speaks Via Video to IMF Event, and 3pm gives us Consumer Credit. “Commitment of Trader” data before the closing bell – and Japan’s GDP around 7pm tonight SEE ALSO: 10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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A New Lawsuit Against Zillow Alleges Company Believes Women Over 40 'Can't Keep Up' | ||
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A new lawsuit has been filed against $4.7 billion real estate database company Zillow, alleging that it discriminates against its female employees over 40-years-old. This is the second lawsuit filed against Zillow this week; the first being one alleging that Zillow maintains a "frat culture" within its company, where female employees are subjected to "sexual torture." You can read about that case here. In this new case, a single 41-year-old mother of two named Jennifer Young is suing after being fired by Zillow. Young alleges she was harassed about her age by management prior to the firing, which she says happened because she "checked into a hospital to treat injuries sustained in a car accident," Valleywag reports.
From the court documents obtained by Business Insider from the law firm representing Young, Geragos & Geragos (see below for the full suit): Ms. Young was quickly exposed to Zillow's "frat house" and "boys club culture" where binge drinking and the willingness to participate in lewd discourse was rewarded by lucrative assignments in the form of Zillow managers routing incoming calls for potential sales leads. As a result of Ms. Young not participating in the conduct described above, Ms. Young's sales manager would make comments to her during the course of her work day such as "are you too old to close?" and "try to keep up with us." It was commonplace at the Zillow office for managers to inform employees, including Ms. Young, that if you do not "drink the Zillow kool-aid" there would be no opportunity for career advancement. Young says due to injuries she sustained in a car accident over the summer, she checked into a hospital. Even though she notified CEO Spencer Rascoff, Valleywag reports, she was fired by Zillow for "job abandonment." Young claims she was still in the hospital during this time. You can read the whole suit: Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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India's new government kicks off privatisation drive | ||
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New Delhi (AFP) - India's new right-wing government kicked off its troubled privatisation drive Friday, selling a five-percent stake in the state-controlled Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) to generate revenue and plug a gaping budget deficit. The offer of shares in the country's biggest domestic steel producer is the first in a string of asset disposals planned by the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Analysts originally expected the sale to take place in July but the divestment programme has been slow to get off the ground. The SAIL offer that was set at a minimum price of 83-rupees-a-share, represented a two-and-a-half percent discount to Thursday's closing price. The government has said the SAIL sale, which will reduce the state's holding in the company to 75 percent, is expected to raise up to 17 billion rupees ($275 million). The sale was 27 percent oversubscribed by the afternoon, according to stock exchange figures. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said in his budget that the government aimed to collect a hefty 584.43 billion rupees ($9.5 billion) from the sale of holdings in state-run companies and non-government firms during the financial year ending March 2015. But the government is likely to fall badly short of that target, partly due to strong resistance to divestment by employees of some state-run firms. Coal India's 350,000 unionised employees, for instance, are heavily against the sale of shares in the mining giant to private investors. Modi led his Bharatiya Janata Party to a massive election victory in May on pledges of reviving India's stumbling economy. The government has said it wanted to accelerate divestment to raise badly needed funds to stick to the previous Congress government's ambitious goal of capping the deficit at 4.1 percent of gross domestic product, down from 4.5 percent a year earlier. "India looks set to miss its fiscal target this year, even in the optimistic case that the government fully delivers on its plans to sell stakes in state-owned companies," research house Capital Economics analyst Shilan Shah said in a note. The failure of the economy to generate more in tax revenues, despite a slight pick-up in growth, has made it even tougher to meet the deficit target, analysts say.
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ICC prosecutors drop case against Kenya's president | ||
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The Hague (AFP) - The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor on Friday dropped a case against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta alleging crimes against humanity, saying she did not have enough evidence to take him to trial. "The Prosecution withdraws the charges against Mr Kenyatta," Fatou Bensouda said in a document filed at the Hague-based court, adding "the evidence has not improved to such an extent that Mr Kenyatta’s alleged criminal responsibility can be proven beyond reasonable doubt."
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This Is The Video Of New York Cops Strangling A Man To Death That Is Tearing America Apart Right Now | ||
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The video below is at the centre of the Eric Garner case that is tearing America apart. There has been two nights of protests across major US cities because a grand jury in New York failed to charge any of the police officers involved in Garner's death. Be warned: The video is upsetting. It shows clearly several officers grabbing Garner by the neck and suffocating him to death. Garner, who was arguing with the police but had not been violent, pleads with the officers, saying "I can't breathe." That phrase has become the protests' main slogan. The video shows two officers from New York Police Department (NYPD) arresting the 43-year-old man from Staten Island. Garner died after being held in a chokehold, as the manoeuvre is called. Here is a recap of the whole case: When?The action took place on 17 July at about 5pm. The following date two policemen, Justin Damico and Daniel Pantaleo, were put into custody. On December 3, a grand jury in Staten Island ended the case against the officers by deciding not to proceed against the policemen who made the arrest. This triggered the wave of protests in New York and the rest of the US.
Where?The case took place on a sidewalk at 202 Bay Street in Tompkinsville, Staten Island. What happened?Eric Garner was being questioned for selling untaxed cigarettes. After the police confront him, he argues with them and is suddenly placed in a chokehold by Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who grabbed Garner by the neck and forced him to the ground. Chokeholding is banned by the NYPD. Garner suffered a cardiac arrest and was transferred to the Richmond University Medical Center, where he was declared dead about one hour after the encounter with the police.
Who?Garner, 43, was a father of six with multiple previous encounters with the police. His criminal record included more than 30 cases dating back to 1980. Garner weighed more than 350 lbs (160 kg), which may have contributed to the stress on his heart. The BBC interviewed one of Garner daughters, you can watch it here. The two officers involved are Justin Damico and Daniel Pantaleo, who confronted and blocked Garner before the arrival of other policemen. Of the two, Pantaleo, 29, performed the chokehold. In the video above, he is wearing a green t-shirt with a 99 stamped in yellow on the back because he was operating in plainclothes that afternoon. Pantaleo has served in the NYPD for eight years. Garner was chatting with his friend Ramsey Orta, 22, when the police stopped him. Orta filmed the whole encounter and posted it on YouTube. TIME Magazine interviewed Orta five days after Garner's death. Orta was arrested for carrying weapons on August 3. After the case exploded, NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio vowed a full inquiry. On Wednesday, Officer Pantaleo was cleared of all charges, effectively closing the case.
Why?Protesters are blaming the NYPD for murdering an American citizen in broad daylight for a minor offence. Those who support the police say that Garner first tried to resist the arrest, and nothing would have happened if he had agreed to follow the cops. The death echoes a similar case in Ferguson, Missouri. In that town, an a 18-year-old unarmed black man, Michael Brown, was fatally shot by Officer Darren Wilson on August 9, 2014. Wilson was also cleared by a grand jury on November 24. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Get Ready For The Last Jobs Report Of 2014... (DIA, SPY, QQQ, TLT, IWM) | ||
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We've made it: today is the last jobs report day of the year. At 8:30 a.m. ET, the BLS will release the November employment report, and expectations are for the job market's gains to continue going strong. Here's what Wall Street is looking for, via Bloomberg:
In October, nonfarm payrolls grew by 214,000, less than the 235,000 that was expected by Wall Street, though the unemployment rate fell to 5.8%, the lowest since 2008. But despite last month's miss relative to expectations, October marked the ninth-straight month of job gains over 200,000, the longest such streak since a 19-month streak that ran from 1993-1995. And on Friday, Wall Street is expecting the good times to keep rolling for the job market. In a note to clients ahead of the report, Brian Jones at Societe Generale, who expects nonfarm payrolls grew by 275,000 in November, said, "Our analysis suggests that last month's readings on hiring, joblessness and wages will support the more upbeat assessment of labor-market conditions expressed by monetary policymakers following their October gathering." Jones added that while his forecast is above consensus expectations, a reading in-line with his estimates would not alter his expectation that the Fed keeps interest rates at 0%-0.25% until next June. Joe LaVorgna at Deutsche Bank expects nonfarm payrolls grew by 250,000 in November, writing in a note to clients ahead of the report that, "There is little evidence to suggest the current pace of job gains will deteriorate anytime soon." Meanwhile, Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Macroeconomics expects nonfarm payrolls grew by just 180,000 in November owing to the severe weather seen in the northern Midwestern states at the end of the month. Shepherdson expects, however, that the October report will be revised higher, and expects that down the road, November's number will also be revised higher. Since 2009, November payroll gains have had a median upward revision of 71,000 from the first to third estimate. Holiday hiring patterns will also be a focus for Friday's number, with Deutsche Bank's LaVorgna writing in his note that, "Potential distortions to couriers and messengers is one reason November payrolls may surprise to the upside." LaVorgna writes that since consumers have shifted towards online shopping, the BLS has had trouble adjusting for the seasonal hiring impact. Friday's jobs report also comes after what was an overall solid month for the stock and bond markets, but a complete disaster for the oil market, though it is unlikely any job losses related to oil production declines will show up in Friday's report. As always, we will have wall-to-wall live coverage of the jobs report. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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