Sick of Having a Misogynist in the White House? Vote for Another One!

Newly unearthed lawsuits against Democratic presidential hopeful Michael Bloomberg that have either been settled or dismissed paint a disturbing picture of misogynistic behavior. The never-before-seen legal briefs were provided to the Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act and include complaints by a number of women that were followed up by attempts to keep them quiet.

In one high-profile complaint, saleswoman Sekiko Sakai Garrison alleges that, when told of a male colleague’s impending marriage, Bloomberg suggested to female salespeople, “All of you girls line up to give him blow jobs as a wedding present.” That suit also alleges that, on a number of occasions, Bloomberg said, “I’d fuck that in a second” when he saw certain women.

In another incident, Garrison said Bloomberg “was unhappy with the outcome of a business meeting. He said to a newly-hired female Company sales person, ‘If [clients] told you to lay down and strip naked so they could fuck you, would you do that too?’” Garrison said Bloomberg made similar remarks for all six years of her employment.

 Bloomberg also allegedly said about Garrison that he would have sex with her “in a minute,” but he regretted that she didn’t have “legs and an a-- ” like a certain actress.

Garrison alleged that Bloomberg berated female employees who got pregnant. “What the hell did you do a thing like that for?” Bloomberg allegedly told one pregnant employee. On another occasion, the lawsuit said, Bloomberg berated a female employee who had trouble finding a nanny. “It’s a f------ baby! . . . All you need is some black who doesn’t have to speak English to rescue it from a burning building.”

When Bloomberg learned on April 11, 1995, that Garrison was pregnant, he allegedly said to her, “Kill it!” Garrison asked Bloomberg to repeat what he said, and she said he responded, “Kill it! Great! Number 16!,” which she took as a reference to the number of pregnant women and new mothers at the company.   Bloomberg has denied her allegation under oath, and he reached a confidential settlement with the saleswoman.

Shortly after Garrison left the company, an employee named Mary Ann Olszewski sued Bloomberg LP in 1996, alleging that she was drugged and raped by her supervisor. She said that employees from Bloomberg on down engaged in a pattern and practice of “sexual degradation of women” and that Bloomberg made comments about employees such as, “I’d like to do that piece of meat.”

A number of the cases have either been settled, dismissed in Bloomberg’s favor or closed because of a failure of the plaintiff to meet filing deadlines. The cases do not involve accusations of inappropriate sexual conduct; the allegations have centered around what Bloomberg has said and about the workplace culture he fostered.

The lawsuits, which were filed long before the era of #MeToo, work to undercut Bloomberg’s criticisms of President Trump’s often vulgar behavior towards women. They also call into question his methods in attempting to keep the allegations quiet. A spokesman told the Post that Bloomberg would not release anyone from a confidentiality agreement, and that he did not intend to release his depositions in any of the newly revealed cases.   Sen. Elizabeth Warren has said that nondisclosure agreements are “a way for people to hide bad things they’ve done.” She called on Bloomberg to release women from such agreements.

The Washington Post has also published a book of Bloomberg's most infamous quotes, which was first put together in 1990 as a gag gift.  The most notable are as follows:

“If women wanted to be appreciated for their brains, they’d go to the library instead of to Bloomingdale’s”

Characterizing a competitor in New York’s financial industry:  “Cokehead, womanizing, fag.”

“What do I want? I want an exclusive, 10-year contract, an automatic extension, and I want you to pay me. And I want a blow job from Jane Fonda. Have you seen Jane Fonda lately? Not bad for fifty.”

On salesmanship: “Make the customer think he’s getting laid when he’s getting fucked.”

On computers: “You know why computers will never take the place of people? Because a computer would say that the sex of the person giving you a blow job doesn’t matter.”

"The Royal family-- what a bunch of misfits-- a gay, an architect, that horsey faced lesbian, and a kid who gave up Koo Stark for some fat broad."

On his company’s financial information computers “[They] will do everything, including give you a blow job. I guess that puts a lot of you girls out of business.”