A former female senior manager at KPMG...filed a proposed class-action lawsuit accusing the accounting firm of discriminating against its female employees in pay, promotions and pregnancy leave. The lawsuit, filed in a New York federal court...seeks $350 million in lost pay and benefits as well as other compensatory and punitive damages on behalf of thousands of current and former female managers at the company...KPMG responded in an emailed statement that the lawsuit was entirely without merit...The company cut [plaintiff] Kassman's salary by $20,000 without any business justification when she took maternity leave, the suit said. [also refers to Sanford Wittels & Heisler, Novartis, Publicis Group, Toshiba, Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, Cigna Corp]