TransDigm can’t arbitrate its way out of ex-lawyer’s harassment case

At the 2021 meeting, an operating unit president allegedly followed her to her hotel room and tried to kiss her. In 2023, a different operating president allegedly insisted on dancing with female employees and only stopped when a male colleague stepped in. Then came 2024: a third operating unit president allegedly choked her from behind, knocked off her hat, kissed her face, and smacked her hip and backside – in front of other employees. 

Both the 2021 and 2024 individuals were terminated but received substantial severance despite no contractual entitlement, the complaint alleged. 

When she reported the 2024 incident, the co-chief operating officer asked what she had done to cause the assault and noted the individual was “a good president,” according to the filing. When she raised the broader pattern, the then-CEO told her she was “making a mountain out of a molehill.” 

The complaint described wider discriminatory conduct. The co-COO allegedly called the company’s predominantly female finance vice presidents “gossips,” dismissed sexual harassment and discrimination training as a “waste of time,” and during her interview for the top legal role, asked whether she could balance motherhood with the job. 

In July 2025, she learned she would be replaced by what the complaint called “an objectively less qualified male.” Separation talks failed, and TransDigm moved to arbitrate.