Benefits June 22, 2001

Managers Sue Ford For Reverse Discrimination

June 22, 2001 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Two white managers for Ford Motor are suing the automaker, alleging they were passed over for promotions in favor of women and minorities.

Reported by

Nevin E. Adams

The suits, filed yesterday in US District Court in Detroit, accuse the automaker of requiring that managers either meet quotas for hiring and promoting women/minorities or risk losing lucrative bonuses.

And, like a growing number of class action lawsuits, this one has a web site, http://www.fordmotorsclassaction.com .

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Passed Over?

In one suit, Ford Credit manager John Kovacs says he was repeatedly passed over for promotions and when he sent a letter of complaint to Ford chairman William Clay Ford Jr. through his attorney, he was placed on paid suspension.

The second suit involves Guy Bertram, a 49-year-old Ford management employee who says he was passed over for promotion several times because he is a white male.

David Murphy, Ford’s vice president of human resources, said there are no quotas per se, but that managers’ success at hiring and promoting women and minorities is a factor in their overall performance evaluation, according to an Associated Press report.

Making the Grade

Ford faces at least two other lawsuits filed by current and former employees who also say they were denied promotions or were terminated because of their age or for being white males (see Ford Workers Give Performance System an “F” .

Those lawsuits are targeting Ford’s Performance Management Program (PMP), which is used to evaluate some 18,000 top managers. The system has been in place for about a year. Plaintiffs say they had previously received positive evaluations, but that changed once the program was implemented.

Deals and People June 21, 2001

CalPERS' Alternatives Chief Leaves for East Coast Venture Capital Firm

June 20, 2001 (HedgeWorld.com) - Barry J. Gonder, senior investment officer in charge of the California Public Employees' Retirement System's alternatives program, is joining Grove Street Advisors LLC, which is the pension fund's strategic partner in its $20 billion alternative investment management program.

Reported by

editors@plansponsor.com

He will be relocating to the Wellesley, Mass.-based firm, where he will become a general partner, a new position.

Grove Street Advisors manages California Emerging Ventures, CalPERS’ venture capital vehicle. The venture capital partnership began in 1998, when venture capital represented less than 5% of CalPERS’ total commitments to private equity.

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The program is a way for CalPERS to become an investor of choice for venture capital partnerships, which are recommended by Grove Street. As of March, the pension fund had about $1.2 billion with Grove Street.

Mr. Gonder leaves CalPERS on July 2, after five years at the $155 billion retirement system. Rick Hayes, senior principal investment officer will replace Mr. Gonder in the interim, said Brad Pacheco, spokesman. He added that in five years, Mr. Gonder was able to build a good team at CalPERS.

“GSA has presented the market place with a powerful new model for both investing with top-tier established funds as well as building high quality new investment teams,” Mr. Gonder said in a Grove Street release. “They are essentially redefining the role and style of the traditional gatekeeper. I believe I can leverage my experience at CalPERS to further define and build out this model.”

This is the second time a CalPERS investment officer has joined one of the fund’s alternative investment managers.

“It’s always a challenge to retain top talent,” Mr. Pacheco said. But he added that a committee of the board reviews compensation of investment officers.

Bob Boldt, who left the fund in May 2000, popped up at a CalPERS’ investment manager’s office this last January. He joined San Francisco-based Pivotal Asset Management, a $750 million money manager that oversees a crossover hedge fund that invests both in public and private companies.

In August 1999, the CalPERS board committed $300 million to the technology-focused Pivotal Partners fund. In May 2000, Mr. Boldt told trustees that he was interested in a job in the private sector and discussed with the press the possibility of joining a hedge fund.

By Susan L. Barreto, Senior Reporter, SBarreto@HedgeWorld.com