Brave, Ethical, or Just Bounty Hunters?

11 January 2006

2 minute read

Many female finance workers remain convinced that sexism is a given if you work in investment banking. Like the latest lawsuit, where Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (DrKW) has been hit with a $1.4bn action filed in New York, working on Wall Street just does not seem to be getting any kinder or gentler.

Is it all just men behaving badly? The six litigants, based in London and New York, claim that they were denied promotion, paid less than male colleagues and forced to work in a hostile environment which included sexist jibes from male co-workers and exclusion from meetings with important clients which took place at strip clubs. DrKW has said it will defend itself 'vigorously' and denies any wrongdoing.

Earlier this month, Morgan Stanley sacked four employees for visiting a strip club with a client because the company has a policy banning employees participating in 'exclusionary events'.

Do you believe sex discrimination is rife in the financial world? Or are the women who pursue these cases bounty-hunting because the rewards, if they win, are so immense? Do you think the DrKW Six will win? Do you think they should? Let us know what you think.

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AUTHORAnonymous

Insider Comment

2 comments

Ia
Ian
12 January 2006
I am a woman who has had a career in two bulge bracket investment banks. I worked with mostly men all day and enjoyed the banter. It could get sexist and sometime crass at times; however, as long as you had a good sense of humor and could give as good as you got (which you can do without stooping to using vulgar language or references) then it was a fun fast-paced environment to work in.
The woman who stated that she was referred to as the Pamela Anderson of Trading should have come back with "Lucky you to have Pamela Anderson with brains!" Most of the comments that are made are not made personally and these women should have the brains to tell the difference between trading floor chit chat and an indecent proposal. If you can't take the heat get out of the kitchen!
The interesting issue really is that there are not enough managing directors in sales and trading departments in investment banks. The trading floors should have woman better represented. There are certainly very bright women out there who could and do do the roles of sales/trading and trading effectively. They should be promoted, paid accordingly and celebrated for their contributions. The problem is that these types of lawsuits are counter-productive. They will lead to less hiring of women on trading floors (too risky) and therefore, less senior women in investment banking trading floor management.
Why is it that there are senior women who run buy-side dealing desks and yet there aren't any female heads of sales/trading? Examples: Yvonne Longley, Head of Dealing MSAM; Macrina Otieno, Head of Dealing CSAM; Betsey Anderson, Head of Dealing Britannic Asset Mgmt; Mary McCave, Head of Dealing Legal and General....
Female Head of Sales/Trading at an investment bank = 0. Again, these lawsuits won't help that imbalance.
- Ex-Head of Electronic Trading
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DB
DB
12 January 2006
The lawsuits are meritorious. Investment bankers' behavior has to change.
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