Oxstones Investment Club™UK, Friday October 15, 2010
Lulu Sinclair, Sky News Online
One of America’s biggest banks, Citigroup, is being sued by six women who accuse it of being run like a boys’ club.
Chia Siu, Brittany Sharpton, Lisa Conley, Amy Bartoletti, Nadine Mentor. Photo: Erika Larsen/Redux
The women accuse bosses of underpaying them, punishing them for being mothers and then using the economic turbulence as an excuse to sack them.
The outdated “boys’ club” mentality “filters down through the management ranks to affect all senior and junior level professional positions”, they claim.
The group action also claims the bank dismissed highly qualified women, keeping on the less qualified men in the same position.
Sexist comments in the office, they say, are “rife”.
If the women win, the bank could be forced to pay out hundreds of thousands in compensation.
This is not the first time the bank has been accused of favouring men over women.
Former banker Debrahlee Lorenzana said she was sacked for being “too sexy” and a distraction to her male colleagues.
She brought a case against Citigroup which was subsequently dismissed for contract reasons.
She says she will continue the case privately.
Another bank, Goldman Sachs, is under fire from three female former employees who allege sexism. The bank says it is “without merit”.
Source: news.sky.com
Tags: Citigroup, goldman sachs, sexism