Wall Street firm known for ‘Fearless Girl’ statue to settle gender pay dispute for $5 million: report

The financial services company that installed the “Fearless Girl” statue on Wall Street has agreed to settle for $5 million with more than 300 women over allegations that it paid female executives less than males. 

A Labor Department audit alleged that women in senior roles at State Street Corp. received lower pay overall than their male counterparts, including lower base salaries and bonus pay, since December 2010, according to Bloomberg. 

“State Street is committed to equal pay practices and evaluates on an ongoing basis our internal processes to be sure our compensation, hiring and promotions programs are nondiscriminatory,” State Street said in a statement to Bloomberg BNA. 

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The asset management company said it disagreed with the findings of the 2012 federal audit, and that it cooperated fully with the review. 

The “Fearless Girl” statue was installed on Wall Street earlier this year, and features a young girl staring down the famous “Charging Bull” statue. It quickly became a stand-alone draw for tourists.

The statue was installed to advertise the State Street’s SPDR Gender Diversity exchange-traded fund, comprised of companies with greater gender diversity among their senior leadership than other companies in their sector.