A federal judge has tossed the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's class-action lawsuit accusing Bloomberg LLP of systematically discriminating against female employees who became pregnant.

The EEOC brought the lawsuit—which didn't name Bloomberg personally—in 2007 on behalf of four senior Bloomberg employees who say they suffered demotions and pay decreases after having children. Two of them were busted down from managerial to entry-level jobs after they asked for flexible schedules to accommodate child care.

Today's decision threw out the class-action on the grounds that the plaintiffs failed to prove that such discrimination was "standard operating procedure" at the company. It didn't rule on the merits of the individual complaints, and the women are free to pursue them individually. Bloomberg previously settled a discrimination claim back in 1995 for responding to a top sales executive's joyful news of a coming child with the admonition, "Kill it."

One undeniable upside to the EEOC suit was that plaintiff's lawyers got to depose Bloomberg, and he couldn't help but be the smug prick that he is. So we'll always have that.

[Photo via Getty Images]