Sept 4 (Reuters) - A retired Discover Financial Services ( DFS )

executive sued the digital banking giant in Chicago on Wednesday

for alleged gender and age bias, claiming it made her a

scapegoat for regulatory problems and revoked more than $7

million in stock awards.

Diane Offereins, who led Discover's payments network until

her retirement last year, said in the federal court lawsuit that

the company had violated state and U.S. civil rights law and

equal pay provisions.

Offereins, who worked at Discover for 25 years, said she was

the only woman and only retired executive to lose equity

following an internal investigation at the company over the

possible misclassification of some credit cards.

Offereins' lawyer Sean Hecker in a statement accused

Discover of "blatant" discrimination.

Riverwoods, Illinois-based Discover did not immediately

respond to a request for comment.

Capital One has proposed to acquire Discover for $34 billion

in a deal that is now under antitrust review. Capital One is not

a defendant and did not immediately respond to a request for

comment.

Discover in July 2023 publicly disclosed it had incorrectly

classified some individuals' credit cards as "commercial"

beginning around mid-2007, two years before Offereins joined the

company's payment network side.

The misclassification caused some merchants to pay a higher

transaction fee.

Discover's internal review of the misclassifications claimed

Offereins "engaged in willful or reckless violation of the

company's risk policies" her lawsuit said.

She said the company's accusation was "baseless," she was

not responsible for the classification of credit cards, and that

she had raised concerns about the issue.

Discover canceled Offereins' equity six months after her

June 2023 retirement, on the night before her shares were due to

vest, she said.

The lawsuit said Discover executives responsible for the

card classification issue "emerged relatively unscathed." Those

male corporate officers, the lawsuit said, "managed to reap

their benefits."

Offereins said she had planned to retire in 2018 but agreed

to remain on during a transition period that was extended amid

the COVID-19 pandemic.

The case is Diane Offereins v. Discover Financial Services ( DFS ),

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, No.

1:24-cv-08032.

For Offereins: Sean Hecker and Julie Fink of Hecker Fink

For Discover: No appearance yet

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