Five female financial advisors have filed a class action lawsuit against Smith Barney, the retail brokerage arm of Citigroup, alleging sex discrimination. The lawsuit, filed yesterday at a federal court in the northern district of California, alleges that female employees at the brokerage are being treated unfairly in terms of how business opportunities and lucrative accounts are allocated.
Even female brokers who outperformed their male counterparts were not rewarded appropriately by Smith Barney, the plaintiffs claim.
“These courageous women have come forward to hold Smith Barney accountable for treating female brokers like second-class citizens,” says Adam Klein, one of the lawyers involved in the case. “We are long past the day when 100 per cent effort means 70 per cent pay for women in the workplace.”
The filing of the lawsuit amends a previous class action complaint initially filed by three of the plaintiffs in March last year.