HISTORIC SEX DISCRIMINATION SETTLEMENT REACHED BY WILLIS FEMALE EXECUTIVES

(Washington, DC)  October 23, 2007 

Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, P.L.L.C.  announce that class members employed at Willis of New York, Inc., Willis of New Jersey, Inc. and Willis of Massachusetts, Inc. in  executive positions have been awarded preliminary approval in one of the largest per capita recoveries ever in a sex discrimination lawsuit.  According to lead attorney for the plaintiffs, Christine E. Webber, “The class includes approximately 180 women who held 'officer level positions' at these three Willis offices from October 30, 1998 through December 31, 2001.  The class alleged that Willis discriminated with respect to salary and bonuses.”  The parties reached an agreement to settle the case just before trial was scheduled to begin earlier this year, and the terms of the proposed settlement have now been finalized and granted preliminary approval by Judge Gerard Lynch, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.  The final fairness hearing will be held on November 19, 2007.

Willis has agreed to pay $8.5 million to the class members, and will separately pay for attorneys’ fees and expenses.  This settlement represents the full amount of lost earnings calculated by Plaintiffs’ expert, based upon the statistical analysis, which Plaintiffs planned to present at trial, and the average recovery will be approximately $50,000 per woman.  In addition, Willis will make changes in its compensation practices and performance evaluation system.  A monitor will be appointed by the Court, and during the three years of the consent decree, the monitor will review compensation decisions made by Willis to ensure that there are no inappropriate disparities in compensation related to gender.

“We think that changing Willis’ practices to prevent discrimination in the future is equally important.  The relief set forth in this consent decree is an important step for women employees at Willis.  They have been doing the same work as their male peers, and they deserve to receive the same rewards for their efforts.  More remains to be done,” said Ms. Webber.  “The class we represented extended only through December 2001, but other litigation is pending which seeks redress for the same practices from 2002 to the present.  We hope that litigation is equally successful.” 

“We're pleased that through this class action, members of the class were able to obtain relief for disparities in pay that may have eluded them if they had pursued their claims individually, as a result of the recent Supreme Court decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Inc.,” said co-lead counsel Joseph M. Sellers, also a partner with Cohen Milstein.

A copy of the Notice approved by the Court and the full text of the consent decree can be found at www.cmht.com <http://www.cmht.com>.