Want to crack the boys club? Learn to seduce the men.
At least that’s the advice three women claim they received while working for the Manhattan branch of leading finance firm Merrill Lynch.
The three women are suing their former employer for allegedly instructing them to “seduce the boys club” in order to get ahead, according to the New York Post.
They allege their former employer discriminated against them, saying they were given the book Seducing the boys club: uncensored tactics from a woman at the top and ordered to attend a lecture by the book’s author, Nina DiSesa.
The book, according to The Cut, offers an interesting mix of career lessons including how to stroke a man’s fragile ego, “reinforcing his hunk status” and “assuring him that the small bald spot at the top of his head is hardly noticeable”. DiSesa believes these tips are all “stop-gap measures until women can rule the world benevolently”.
But the three former Merrill Lynch employees didn’t see it the same way, claiming that “flirting and sugar-coating criticism of male co-workers with flattery” is a blatant example of gender discrimination in the workplace.
They allege in court documents that they were “pressured to attend gals-only events on topics like ‘dressing for success’ and ‘preparing healthy meals while working full-time’.”
They also claim they were told by former male managers that they needed to be more “perky” and “bubbly” to attract clients, and one woman was told to “stick to her knitting”.
Sexism in the finance sector isn’t just a problem for Wall St. A January 2013 survey conducted by eFinancial Careers found 84% of women working in financial services in Australia say they experience sex discrimination at work, while only half of men believed that gender discrimination existed in financial services.