By KELSEY VOLKMANN
St. Louis Business Journal

Anheuser-Busch encourages a "locker room" and "frat party" atmosphere, excludes women from informal social networks and pays women less than their male counterparts, a woman who was once the brewer's highest-ranking female executive alleges in a lawsuit.

Francine Katz, Anheuser-Busch's former vice president of communications and consumer affairs and also a former member of the company's Strategy Committee, alleges that she was given a smaller salary and bonuses than male executives despite repeatedly raising concerns between 2002 and 2007 about the disparity to former chief executive Patrick Stokes, former Chairman August Busch III, former CEO August Busch IV and current company President David Peacock, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in St. Louis City Circuit Court.

Katz seeks lost wages and unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

Anheuser-Busch spokeswoman Terri Vogt called the complaints in the lawsuit "unjustified."

In December 2002, Stokes and Busch III told Katz that her compensation was based on the market rate for her position and that they had no discretion to deviate from the market rate, according to the lawsuit. Busch III told Katz she was "ungrateful" and she could have been paid less, the suit alleges.

But in 2008, Katz learned that her base salary and target bonus was less than every male member of the Strategy Committee, and that the committee's only other female member, Marlene Coulis, vice president of consumer strategy and innovation, had a lower compensation, according to the suit. Katz also discovered that she and Coulis were classified as "Tier II" officers, and all males on the committee were classified as "Tier I" officers, according to the suit. Another executive also told Katz that the CEO had "wide discretion" in establishing compensation for committee members, the suit says.

"It wasn't until the company was being sold to InBev last year that I learned the truth," Katz said in a statement. "Although I attempted to discuss the topic of my compensation as a member of the Strategy Committee with my superiors on numerous occasions, my requests were ignored or met with hostility or misinformation."

Katz has hired employment-discrimination lawyer Mary Anne Sedey, who was involved in a class-action sex discrimination case against Rent-A-Center that settled in 2002 for $47 million.

When Katz was promoted in July 2002 to the role of VP of communications and consumer affairs, she received all the same duties formerly assigned to John Jacob, A-B's retiring executive vice president and chief communications officer, but she did not receive the administrative assistant he was assigned, the office suite with a conference room that he was given or the same salary, the suit alleges. She was also made a member of the brewer's Strategy Committee, a group of 15 to 20 of the company's most senior executives responsible for setting the direction and strategies of the company.

Jacob was paid a base salary of $605,000 and a bonus of $645,000 for a total of $1.25 million in his last year at Anheuser-Busch, while Katz received $300,000 in base salary and a bonus of $200,000 for a total of $500,000 in her first year in the new position, according to the lawsuit.

Katz received annual raises and bonuses. But by 2007, she still made only 46 percent of what Jacob had earned in 2001, according to the suit.

The brewer denied Katz's claims of discrimination.

"Katz was compensated fairly for her roles and responsibilities at Anheuser-Busch and treated in compliance with all relevant laws and internal standards," Vogt said. "Our company firmly believes in treating all employees fairly and values the differences of all employees, specifically prohibiting any form of discrimination based on a person's gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability or other prohibited factors."

Katz was the highest-ranking woman at Anheuser-Busch, where she oversaw a group of 80 employees in departments stationed in St. Louis and across the country, managing all internal and external communications. She received $12.5 million in cash from InBev for her stock in the company when InBev completed its $52 billion purchase of the brewery in November 2008.

Before joining the brewer in 1988, Katz practiced law for five years at what was then Armstrong Teasdale Schlafly & Davis, specializing in corporate law.

During her 20-year history with Anheuser-Busch, Katz has served in various capacities, including associate general counsel in the company's legal department and vice president of the company's alcohol awareness and education group.

Anheuser-Busch is the largest brewing company in the United States, with 12 U.S. breweries and approximately 20 in other countries.

Christopher Tritto contributed to this story.