On Background
Wigdor has filed a complaint on behalf of our clients, Katrina Kaupp, Kimberly Chamberlain, and Haley Walker against Northwestern Mutual and The Beilin Group. Under the helm of Alexander Beilin, Northwestern Mutual’s Beilin Group, operating out of Connecticut, was a toxic environment in which leadership targeted women based on their attractiveness, whether they were mothers and if they had disabilities.
As the complaint alleges, almost immediately after starting at The Beilin Group, Ms. Kaupp was subjected to sexually harassing conduct and comments, including Mr. Beilin asking if she and her husband were “active” sexually and discussing the level of attractiveness of himself, his wife, and their mutual colleagues, including mentioning that another female employee had nice “tits and an ass.” Shortly into her employment, Ms. Kaupp learned of her coworkers’ use of the abbreviation “ff,” which stood for “fun fuck.” She soon realized that several male employees, when setting up a meeting with her, would put “ff with Katrina” on their calendars. Mr. Beilin was aware and did nothing, fueling the objectification of female employees that had become commonplace.
From the moment Mr. Beilin met Ms. Chamberlain in November 2024, the complaint also alleges he undermined her ability to perform her responsibilities as a mother. She accepted her job with the understanding she would be able to work remotely at least once per week and take a two-week vacation later in the year; however, that flexibility was soon rescinded. Male employees, however, were offered more freedoms. CFO Joseph Nuara was permitted to work remotely twice per week because he “has kids” and “daycare issues on the days that [his] wife works” and CRO Travis Harrington was allowed to miss weekly 7:30 am meetings because he has children. Multiple times per month, Mr. Beilin questioned whether Ms. Chamberlain could do her job with three small children. By May 2025 she felt forced to leave the company. The day of her resignation, Mr. Beilin accused Ms. Kaupp of being on “Her [Ms. Chamberlain’s] team” and cut her responsibilities, relegating her to nothing more than an “assistant.”
Ms. Walker started working at Northwestern Mutual in April 2025 and immediately informed her employers, when she could not read the materials she was provided, of a vision impairment that requires modest accommodation. As alleged, the day after she started, Mr. Beilin asked Ms. Kaupp to schedule a meeting with an employment attorney to “see how we can get rid of” Ms. Walker. Chief Recruitment Officer, Gabe Perez, complained that Ms. Walker would be unable to see what job candidates “look like” or assess “their age,” despite that not having any bearing on their ability to perform the job. He also refused to send Ms. Walker digital versions of materials (to accommodate for her vision impairment with ZoomText) for meetings where her attendance was required multiple times per week. When Ms. Walker filed a complaint with the Company’s ethics team, she included an email from Mr. Perez which highlighted his discriminatory hiring practices as he referred to someone not being a good fit because they are a single mother with a child with special needs. In July, Ms. Walker was terminated despite her numbers being “where everyone else’s [were].” Ms. Kaupp had advocated for Ms. Walker and soon after Ms. Walker was terminated, she experienced retaliation for her support. Responsibilities were revoked, communication was blocked, and she was denied access to tools and meetings essential to her work. She then decided it was time to leave the company and its toxic environment.
The Beilin Group – and Northwestern Mutual, which was fully aware of the behavior going on in the Connecticut office – proved to be an impossible place for women to work.
The full complaint may be fond HERE.
On Record
Quote from David E. Gottlieb (Partner, Wigdor LLP):
“The Beilin Group developed a workplace culture that made it impossible for woman to exist as equals to their male colleagues. We will not permit double standards to go unchecked and will fight to preserve the dignity of our clients by demanding accountability from both the Beilin Group and Northwestern Mutual.”
Quote from Katrina Kaupp:
“In the nine months I spent at the Beilin Group, I witnessed – and experienced firsthand – discrimination against women from nearly every angle. We were mistreated by management through sexual advances, objectifying comments about our physical appearance, vocalized doubt that we could perform our roles while also being mothers, and the refusal to provide the most reasonable disability accommodations. Our contributions were discounted and our voices were silenced. In this day and age, this conduct cannot be permitted.”
Please reach out to Wigdor LLP Partner David E. Gottlieb (dgottlieb@wigdorlaw.com) or Director of Marketing Tess Neudeck (tneudeck@wigdorlaw.com) with any questions