A young Manhattan woman says she was canned from a prestigious French bank for blowing the whistle on rampant sexual harassment there and is suing the bank for $450 million.

UPI,
Woman sues bank for firing

A 23-year-old New York woman has sued Societe Generale, claiming the French bank fired her for blowing the whistle on rampant sexual harassment.

They made me feel like the bad guy, Kristin Polidori, reports the New York Post. She said her dismissal came shortly after that of the person alleged to have been her main harasser.

An attorney for Societe Generale denied the charge.

Polidori said her boss was fired after she complained, but her panic attacks continued as she became the talk of the office, the report said.

No wonder they fired her, she can't hear well. Pepe LePew, the bank president explains as he pointed to Horace Whipple, International Bond operations, "Vee said blow Wheeple, not wheestle; zat woman simply cannot follow ze directions". Ah, those silly French; won't they ever learn English?

Trying to get to the bottom of this story, I interviewed Crystal Dimbulb [not the whistle-blower], a receptionist at the bank.

Crystal, pictured here in her receptionist uniform, told me that she is constantly treated with respect, constantly, over and over and that the woman who is suing misunderstood her duties at the bank. Although Crystal only works 2 hours a day and pulls in over $200,000 per annum (plus tips), she did say that the French Bank's dress code did keep her a bit chilly. "I've asked them to put the thermostat up a little higher, but the management insists things are too hot as it is."

When asked to explain himself, the bank president said, "Certainly, vee never hear of suing for flirting in France."

So this case boils down to what he heard, she heard.

But on the serious side: I later mentioned to Crystal, that in Turkey she would be stoned for not wearing a head scarf; read

The BEAST Blog,
Jerky Turkey

Reporters Without Borders said today it was shocked at the failure of Turkish police to prevent an attack on a woman reporter, Aliye Cetinkaya, of the daily paper Sabah (The Morning), during a protest against publication of cartoons of Mohammed in the European press.

A group of 30 men broke away from the demonstration, on 10 February in the city of Konya, and attacked the journalist, accusing her of not having her head covered, of wearing trousers and chewing gum. They threw shoes and stones at her and called her a “slut.”

Police surrounding the demonstration did not help her and she had to be rescued by colleagues.

Related:

Motion to Produce Documents [PDF]

Diane Francis on Business Issues,
13 Mar 2006,
The Greed Beat

In 2004, Morgan Stanley paid US$54 million to settle a lawsuit brought by women complaining about breast-shaped cakes, lewd comments and strippers in the office.

Saleswoman Laura Zubulake last year won a US$29-million verdict against UBS AG, Europe's biggest bank.

In January, six women sued Germany's Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein for US$1.4 billion because they were cut out of strip parties where huge bonuses and promotions were doled out.