The three women involved in a federal suit against Bloomberg LP for gender discrimination are now blaming Mayor Bloomberg and other top management at the company of creating a culture hostile to pregnant women and new mothers.

The women filed a motion in U.S. District Court in Manhattan this morning to add to the lawsuit filed last week by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against the worldwide financial news information firm.

The women — Jill Patricot, Tanys Lancaster, and Janet Loures — are seeking nearly $482 million in compensatory and punitive damages.

“This systemic, top-down discrimination against female employees is fostered, condoned and perpetuated by the highest levels of management within Bloomberg and by the ownership of Bloomberg,” the motion says. It cites Mr. Bloomberg; company CEO, Lex Fenwick; chief of sales, Thomas Secunda, and chairman of the board, Peter Grauer.

The complaint, which invokes 18 civil counts of city, state, and federal gender discrimination, says that last year Mr. Bloomberg allegedly instructed Bloomberg Radio to stop running advertisements by law firms that prosecute employment discrimination cases. At the time, the company denied that Mr. Bloomberg called the station to complain.

The motion also alleges that Bloomberg LP’s top managers made crude comments about female executives who had become pregnant. It accuses Mr. Fenwick of saying: “I’m not having any pregnant bitches working for me,” after learning that two of his female executives had become pregnant.

The complaint also alleges that during a conference call Mr. Secunda told employees that he would “kill their children and burn down their houses” if a business goal was not met.

When the initial EEOC suit was filed last week, a Bloomberg LP spokeswoman disputed the claims and said the firm would vigorously fight the case. Mr. Bloomberg, who settled a personal discrimination suit without admitting any wrongdoing in 2000, said that he had not worked there in “an awful long time.”

Yesterday he told reporters: “I’m very proud of the company and what it’s done. It is a very family friendly company. I haven’t had anything to do with running it or any discussions about any of their employment policies for a long time.”

The 65-page complaint adds more far more detail to the original EEOC complaint, including a timeline of the demotions and pay cuts that each of the three women allegedly faced.

Mr. Bloomberg founded Bloomberg LP in 1981 and owns 68% of the company. He stepped down as CEO and chairman to be mayor.