Citigroup, one of the four banking giants in the US, is reportedly facing a gender discrimination lawsuit from six women claiming that the bank does not pay female employees as much as men. It is also alleged that the company is more likely to retain less-qualified men over more-qualified women.
Five out of the six women named in the lawsuit worked within Citigroup’s public finance department before they were made redundant at the end of 2008. In the lawsuit – filed in the US District Court in Manhattan – these women claim that the disparity between the number of men and women made redundant in 2008 could not be coincidental and must be the result of “intentional discrimination”.wome
The lawsuit states:
“The outdated ‘boys club’ is alive and well at Citigroup where women are denied equal terms and conditions of employment that are provided to similarly-situated male employees,”
“As a result of this ‘boys club,’ men dominate the senior ranks of Citigroup’s management and executive positions”,
The sixth women involved in the lawsuit claims that she was demoted and suffered offensive comments since returning from maternity leave.
The women are seeking unspecified damages from Citigroup, who is likely have some form of professional insurance in place should the bank lose the case.