Debrahlee Lorenzana, 33, alleges that she was ordered to stop wearing pencil skirts, fitted business suits, tight trousers and high heels because her appearance was too much for her colleagues at Citibank to bear.
She has filed a sex discrimination suit against the bank in New York and is seeking damages for loss of earnings and emotional distress.
"My entire life, I've been dealing with this. People say, 'Oh, you got a job because you look that way'," Miss Lorenzana said. "Are you saying that just because I look this way genetically, that this should be a curse for me?"
Miss Lorenzana was hired by Citibank in September 2008 as a $70,000 per year business banker, based in the Chrysler Building. After her interview – to which she wore a black Armani wrap dress and Christian Louboutin heels – she claims a colleague told her that the branch was "pretty much known for hiring pretty girls".
Within weeks of her arrival, Miss Lorenzana alleged that she was summoned to a meeting with two male managers who pointed to her bottom and told her that her trousers were too tight. Her suit claims that she was given a list of items she should not wear.
"I honestly couldn't believe it. I was in shock," she said yesterday. "They pulled me aside and told me I could not wear pencil skirts, business suits that were fitted – basically what every woman in New York wears to go to work."
The suit alleges: "As a result of her tall stature, coupled with her curvaceous figure, Lorenzana was told she should not wear classic high-heeled business shoes, as this purportedly drew attention to her body in a manner that was upsetting to her easily distracted managers."
Miss Lorenzana wrote a letter to the human resources department complaining that other female employees were allowed to wear what they liked "because they were short, overweight and they didn't draw much attention, but since I was five foot six, 125 pounds, with a figure, it wasn't 'appropriate'".
She attempted to tone down her appearance by going make-up free but her bosses continued to make daily comments on her clothes, she alleges. In July 2009 she was transferred to another branch and the following month was told that she "wasn't fit for the culture of Citibank" and sacked. The bank claims Miss Lorenzana was fired for poor performance.
In an attempt to prove that Puerto Rican-born Miss Lorenzana cannot help but look attractive at work, her lawyer, Jack Tuckner, hired a professional photographer to take pictures of her in business attire. Mr Tuckner described his client as a "babe" and said her bosses could not resist her Latin looks "so instead they wanted her to wear a tent or a burka".
Miss Lorenzana said she yearned to be uglier. "If being less good-looking means being happy and finding love and not being sexually harassed and having a job where no one bothers you and no one questions you because of your looks then, definitely, I'd want that. I think of that every day."
A Citibank spokesman said: "We believe this lawsuit is without merit and we will defend against it vigorously. We do not condone or tolerate discrimination within our business for any reason."
Photo by SPLASH
Article appeared in telegraph.
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