Discrimination Suit, IT Primer Stir Comments

Our analysis of an unusual discrimination suit got eFC readers' juices flowing this week, prompting diverse comments.

EEOC vs. Merrill Lynch: Perils of Workplace Culture

Jon Jacobs' story on the career-management implications of an Iranian Muslim's discrimination claim drew a variety of comments, ranging from the simply outraged to the outrageously cynical.

Rogue Trader, who works in capital markets, wrote, "Being inappropriate is half the fun of working in this industry. HR types are the worst. If people want to work in a 'Rainbow Coalition' type atmosphere, go work in IT or Commercial Banking..."

Venturing still further out on the laissez-faire limb was an anonymous reader, who wrote, "EEOC is a communist sham. If Merrill or anyone else wants to be racist, so be it. Their competitors will benefit in the market if this guy is really as good as he thinks."

In contrast, Josh, who works in quantitative analytics, wrote, "This case has nothing to do with trading floor culture. It's about bigotry. Merrill Lynch has discriminated against blacks, women, Muslims and all other minorities for decades."

"Merrill's CEO is black, I somehow doubt that he would foster a culture of bigotry," countered Paul, who works in trading.

Add your thoughts here.

So You Want To Be A Wall Street Programmer

Andrey Butov's primer on trading systems programming, published May 22, got a thumbs-up from WallStYouth, who works in equities at a "top-three" brokerage. "This article basically sums up our environment," he wrote. "If you want to work on Wall St. just don't be dumb, that's the only advice I can give. The huge firms like Goldman, Lehman, and Morgan are very picky and will only pick the best. You should really knock every question out the ballpark when asked, if you plan on passing the interview phase."

What do you think? Add your comments here.

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