Hedge Fund Co-Founder Faces Lawsuit for Sexual Harassment and Discrimination
Karl Kroeker, the co-founder of Woodline Partners, a prominent hedge fund, is being sued by a former employee who alleges that he contributed to a demeaning work culture by repeatedly making sexually inappropriate comments. The employee, Danielle di Bari, also claims that she was fired while grappling with postpartum depression after requesting to work remotely.
According to the lawsuit filed on August 3, di Bari, a 32-year-old executive admin who left the firm in May, states that Kroeker, 51, would often propose suggestive hypothetical questions to her and fellow executive admins. She goes on to assert that executive admins, who are primarily young women, endure bawdy jokes, derogatory comments, and demeaning conduct while supporting the male-dominated team of portfolio managers, analysts, and traders.
Woodline Partners has acknowledged the existence of the complaint and expressed its commitment to providing a supportive and equal-opportunity workplace. The firm’s law firm, Sidley Austin, stated that Woodline takes allegations regarding its employees seriously and intends to defend itself. Meanwhile, di Bari’s law firm looks forward to vindicating her rights in court.
The lawsuit, which was filed in the Superior Court of California, seeks a jury trial and alleges that di Bari suffered financial losses, damage to her career, and psychological and emotional distress. She accuses Woodline Partners of discrimination, retaliation, and defamation, and is seeking unspecified damages.
Woodline Partners, founded in 2019 by Karl Kroeker and Michael Rockefeller, managed to attract $2 billion in commitments within its debut year, becoming one of the hedge fund industry’s noteworthy launches. With its founders’ Citadel pedigree, the firm currently manages approximately $6 billion.
According to the lawsuit, Woodline has a team of six executive admins and two hybrid executive admin and receptionist roles, all of whom are women aged between 23 and 37. Di Bari’s complaint outlines several instances of alleged inappropriate conduct, including various hypothetical questions posed by Kroeker over the past three years.
Di Bari claims that during a company happy hour, Kroeker asked a group of female executive admins whether they would prefer their boyfriends to cheat in a purely physical one-night stand or engage in a months-long emotional affair. In another instance, during a dinner in May, he asked the same group whether they would choose a man who goes to a bar while they are in labor or one who wears fake breasts to support breastfeeding for a year. Di Bari alleges that in both cases, Kroeker asked each woman to answer.
The lawsuit highlights another alleged incident where Kroeker commented about a colleague’s breasts and di Bari objected, prompting Kroeker to respond, Am I not supposed to say that?
In April, Woodline transitioned from fully remote work to requiring staff to work from the office at least three days a week. Di Bari, who had just returned from maternity leave and was experiencing depression, requested to work in the office two days a week, but became disheartened when she noticed that male employees such as Michael Rockefeller, Matthew Hooker, and Charlton Yu were allowed to work fully remotely. She alleges that Kroeker wrote in an email that the young women were important to the hedge fund’s brand because many of us are nerds and need the uplifting pep of you ladies.
Di Bari produced a doctor’s note supporting her modified work schedule on May 22, but three days later she was fired.
According to the lawsuit, Woodline’s decision to terminate di Bari sent a hostile message to other female executive admins, including one who was pregnant, indicating that challenging the misogynistic status quo or expressing needs related to pregnancy and childbirth would result in termination without any regard for their rights as women, new mothers, or individuals.
Di Bari joined Woodline in April 2019 at the age of 27, when the firm had approximately 20 employees.
This news originally appeared on FundFire.
