Women accuse bank giant Goldman Sachs of ‘golf and escorts culture’

Women are denied seats in the boardroom of leading global investment bank Goldman Sachs because of a male-dominated "golf and escorts" culture, it is alleged.

Three female former employees have made the claims in a sexual discrimination lawsuit lodged at New York's federal court.

They allege that testosterone-fuelled working practices included press-up contests on the Wall Street trading floor, male-dominated golf outings, a strip bar visit and provocatively-dressed escorts at a Christmas party.

Goldman Sachs, which has five offices in the City of London, denies the allegations, saying they are "without merit".The lawsuit states that there are fewer women in senior positions, and only four of the 30-person top management committee are female.

Last year, the bank generated revenue of more than $45 billion. The plaintiffs include Cristina Chen-Oster, a former vice-president of bond sales who worked at the bank for eight years
until 2005.

She earned $800,000 a year but claims her male counterparts earned double that. Ms Chen-Oster further claims that a male colleague started "kissing and groping her" and tried to "engage in a sexual act" after an alleged Goldman-sanctioned night out at a strip club.

The other two women are Lisa Parisi, an asset manager for seven years and Shanna Orlich, an analyst from 2007 to 2008 who claims she was denied a promotion to trader.

Ms Orlich claims in the lawsuit that she was banned from golf trips and that male workers showed off their "masculinity" with the press-ups contests.

She further claims that at the 2007 sales team Christmas party, female escorts were invited and wore "short black skirts, strapless tops and Santa hats". The law firms which lodged the class action, Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP and Outten & Golden LLP secured a $33 million for women they represented in sex discrimination cases against Bank of America and Merrill Lynch.

The law firms have also set up a website to encourage other Goldman Sachs staff to contact them.

Goldman Sachs said in a statement: "We believe this suit is without merit. People are critical to our business, and we make extraordinary efforts to recruit, develop and retain outstanding women professionals."

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