Employee Who Claims Citibank Fired Her for Being Too "Hot" Sues for Gender Discrimination
In a highly publicized employment news story that has swept the nation over this past week, former Citibank worker Debrahlee Lorenzana was featured in a Village Voice article, revealing the details of her lawsuit against Citibank for gender discrimination because of the company's reaction to her work attire and looks. After Lorenzana was reportedly fired last year due to poor work performance, she slapped Citibank with a discrimination lawsuit, claiming that her bosses thought she was too "hot."
Lorenzana claims in her lawsuit that two male bosses told her to stop wearing tight turtlenecks, pencil skirts, heels or fitted business suits, and fashionable clothing that accentuated her buxom figure--that reportedly distracted her male co-workers and supervisors. The 33-year old single mother claims that she always dressed in a fashionable and respectable manner, and that other female colleagues wore clothing that was more revealing, yet they were not asked to change their wardrobe.
In the Village Voice article, complete with a 32 page spread of photographs of Lorenzana in tight and body hugging clothing, Lorenzana claims that she was punished because her shapely figure attracted too much attention, and was "too much" for her male coworkers and supervisors to "bear" looking at. Lorenzana is accusing Citibank of discrimination based on gender, creating a hostile work environment, and retaliation.
According to the Village Voice, because Lorenzana signed a mandatory arbitration clause before as a condition of employment, the case will never go to trial in front of a jury or judge. An arbitrator will reportedly decide the outcome of the case.