If Only They’d Been Librarians. O’Connor’s “Cultural Cleanup” Falls Short, According to Suit Against Fund.

He couldn’t get men to behave. That’s the charge leveled in a lawsuit from a female employee of Steven Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management Firm of Stamford. The action includes mentions of general counsel and former U.S. attorney Kevin O’Connor, according to a blockbuster New York Times story. 

Cohen has had some troubles with regulators and has been planning a relaunch that would allow him to invest money from other than his own fortune. Plaintiff Lauren Bonner’s lawsuit alleges women are not treated fairly and encounter a hostile work environment. Her complaint, according to the Times, quotes O’Connor as stating, “the reality is that this is just a really tough place for women, and that’s not going to change.”

O’Connor’s tenure as U.S. attorney in Connecticut was marked by a sustained crusade to gag librarians under the Patriot Act. The lawsuit suggests O’Connor has not applied the same vigor to outbreaks of misogyny at the investment fund where he was hired to perform a “cultural cleanup.”

Point72 declared it will contest the allegations in a forum other than the press. Perhaps confidential arbitration will serve its purpose as the matter proceeds.