Suit claims Dresdner hired women as 'eye candy'

NEW YORK -- US employees of a German investment bank filed a $1.4 billion discrimination lawsuit yesterday, portraying the company as a sexist playland where women were hired as ''eye candy" and one was referred to as ''the Pamela Anderson of trading."

The lawsuit accused Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein Securities LLC of letting inappropriate and offensive behavior flourish at the US wing of Dresdner Bank, which provides a full range of capital markets and advisory services for clients. It is owned by Allianz AG.

It also said the company prevents advancement and fair treatment, and maintains a corporate culture that excludes and demeans women.

The lawsuit in US District Court in Manhattan offered a slew of statistics to back up the claims -- noting, for instance, that only four of 258 women in the company's Capital Markets Division are managing directors, positions held by 15 percent of men.

''Although we live in 2006, the 'glass ceiling' is alive and well at this German investment bank, where women are treated as second-class citizens with respect to all of the terms and conditions of their employment," the lawsuit said. ''This class action seeks to put an end to these intolerable and discriminatory practices."

In a statement, the company said its policy is to decline comment on pending litigation but that it ''intends to vigorously defend this matter."

It said the company ''fully complies with all applicable employment-related laws and is confident that any claims to the contrary are without merit."

Six named plaintiffs said they were seeking an end to the unlawful denial of promotions and compensation equal to male employees and equality in other conditions of employment.

The lack of women in senior positions at the company contributed to a ''pervasive discriminatory culture," the lawsuit said.

The plaintiffs alleged that the company condoned intimate relationships between its top executives and their female subordinates.