Bloomberg Grilled in Federal Discrimination Suit

Mayor Bloomberg was questioned behind closed doors Thursday in connection about accusations that his financial data and news service discriminated against women.

Lawyers for the woman who filed a lawsuit against Bloomberg LP questioned the mayor Thursday at his private attorney's midtown Manhattan office. City Hall wouldn't comment afterward.

Bloomberg isn't a defendant in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit claiming discrimination against women who take maternity leave from Bloomberg LP. The suit was filed in 2007, and claims that about 60 women have been discriminated against.

After a member of his sales team announced she was pregnant, the Mayor told her to "kill it," according to one complaint cited by The Post.

Two other women said their supervisors increased the women's workloads once they became pregnant, and one said she went into premature labor on two occasions despite having told her boss she was ill and needed to rest, the Post reported. The woman's attorney called Bloomberg's practices were "outrageous," according to the paper.

Bloomberg resigned as chief executive officer to run for mayor in 2001, but still holds a 68 percent stake in the company.

The company has said the allegations are false.