There is reportedly a culture of harassment and discrimination in Citigroup’s equity trading division. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Bloomberg reports new allegations of sexual harassment in Citigroup’s equity division.
A former managing director filed a lawsuit last year. This is about an allegedly toxic culture in the company.
The department was also said to have underperformed at the time and was therefore lagging behind other Wall Street banks.
One particular division of Citigroup has had a particularly bad reputation over the years.
There is said to be a culture of “persistent harassment and discrimination” in the bank’s equities department, which helps hedge funds execute trades. This is reported by Bloomberg after interviewing 22 people who were either former employees or had experience with the department.
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According to the report, many examples are cited that point to a toxic, male-dominated environment in which women were judged on their appearance and were subject to lewd comments and unwanted come-ons. Some women remained silent for fear of reprisals. Others who shared their experiences said they were turned away by a corporate culture that only took certain “groups” seriously and ignored others instead.
Business Insider has reached out to Citigroup for comment. Bank officials said they had no further comment. However, Mark Costiglio, a spokesperson for Citigroup, told Bloomberg that their “efforts to foster an inclusive and equitable workplace culture will never stop, ensuring that our standards are well understood and adhered to by everyone at Citi.” , is a continuous, proactive process.”
It continues: “We offer employees various options to address their concerns in confidence. If necessary, we will also take the necessary measures to counteract this – this includes terminating an employment relationship. Although we do not comment on individual internal matters, we guarantee that employees who do not adhere to our high standards of respectful treatment will be terminated.”
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Bloomberg’s research comes after a lawsuit filed last year by Ardith Lindsey, a former managing director at Citigroup. In the lawsuit, she claims she “suffered from horrific sexual harassment, gender discrimination and sexual violence while working at the company.” These incidents also “derailed both her career and her life.”
Additionally, Lindsey filed a complaint about a forced relationship with an older male colleague who made “disgusting and violent sexual comments” toward her. The colleague allegedly harassed her with “hundreds of messages and calls a day” after she ended the relationship. According to Lindsey, she was repeatedly exposed to “extreme” sexual violence and a hostile work environment. Additionally, she was forced to attend strip clubs where “male managers exploited women solely for their own pleasure.”
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A derivatives trader told Bloomberg about another incident at a client dinner where a colleague “put his hand on her leg under the table.” Another colleague asked her why the trader wasn’t putting on shoes. that are “more sexy”. When the derivatives trader reported the incident to her superiors, a female manager told her to take the situation calmly. Six other people who complained about their bad experiences with senior employees felt let down by their colleagues’ response.
Meanwhile, Citigroup’s small division is also said to have performed below average, as Bloomberg further reported. The division’s trading revenue lags that of other major Wall Street banks.
Despite these controversial stories from Citigroup’s equity division, the company is trying to create a more tolerant work environment compared to others in the industry, according to Bloomberg. According to Fortune, the company also has flexible work arrangements that have resulted in an increase in the number of women in the workforce compared to other financial firms. The bank also appointed Jane Fraser as its chief executive in 2021. She is the first female CEO of a major bank in the United States.
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