Story 66
I worked at Citi in London until about 15 years ago. I was initially hired to resolve a major operations issue before transitioning to the trading desk.
During my time in operations, a senior managing director repeatedly made explicit sexual comments toward me, such as saying he wanted to f**k me, often in front of colleagues who found it amusing. I recall an incident in the elevator with clients where I dropped my pass and bent to pick it up; he remarked in front of everyone that I had done it intentionally so he could stare at my t**s.
I eventually reported this to senior management, but was dismissed with the response that it was “just the way he is.”
After moving to the trading desk, opportunities for promotion and raises were heavily influenced by whether you were part of the desk head’s inner circle—activities like golf outings, wheatgrass shots, leather bracelets, and sharing his personal trainer. If you weren’t, you were overlooked.
Despite receiving the highest possible ratings in my annual appraisals, I was neither promoted nor given appropriate pay increases.
When I finally resigned, the desk head asked why I was leaving. I cited the lack of promotion as a key reason, to which he replied, “Oh, but it’s really hard to get promoted. You also should have a degree.” This was after I’d worked for him for five years, and he was unaware that I held a first-class honors degree in advanced mathematics and economics.
A few years later, a former colleague informed me that it took the team over two years—and the hiring of three people—to fully cover the scope of my responsibilities, as they had no idea how extensive my workload had been.