A proposed gender discrimination class action against accounting firm KPMG brought by five female former employees who claim they were denied pay raises and promotions can move ahead largely intact, a Manhattan federal judge ruled. [He] rejected most of KPMG's motion to dismiss the majority of the women's claims, finding that their "allegations suffice to survive at this stage of the proceedings."…In a statement, KPMG said the lawsuit is "entirely without merit." "Diversity and inclusion have long been priorities for the firm, and they are woven into our culture and everything we do," the company said. KPMG argued…that the women, as former employees, could not assert class status under a 2011 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that derailed a nationwide discrimination class action against Wal-Mart…[The] lead counsel for the plaintiffs, said the decision, together with other rulings on the Dukes issue, served as a rebuke to the "overbroad" application of the Supreme Court case…