As it turns out, Ms. Souto-Coons was one of hundreds of former Sterling employees who described a corporate culture polluted by sexual aggression, gender discrimination and abuses of power, according to newly released documents<br />that are part of a private class-action arbitration case.<br />“None of the 69,000 class members have brought legal claims in this arbitration for sexual harassment or sexual impropriety.”<br />Signet declined to make Mr. Light available for an interview on Tuesday.<br />“It’s critical to understand that an arbitration claim was brought against Sterling in 2008<br />that alleged gender discrimination in pay and promotion,” the company said in its statement.<br />“Not only is it unfair to the women, it’s unfair to the public.”<br />Cliff Palefsky, a civil rights and employment lawyer in San Francisco, said<br />that the sexual harassment claims were relevant to the case because they illustrated the work environment at Sterling<br />The accusations of sexual harassment are included in statements employees made about pay<br />and promotion disparities, and the accusers have sought to link the accusations to their wages.<br />Joseph M. Sellers, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, has been trying to make the documents public for more than a year, motivated by Sterling employees like Ms. Souto-Coons, who had heard anecdotal corroboration of their experiences<br />but had never seen the statements from their colleagues.<br />Signet Jewelers Limited, the parent company of Sterling, said on Tuesday<br />that it had investigated the claims of sexual misconduct and found them to be without merit.
