ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 22, 1996 TAG: 9605230002
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: Associated Press
Pranks involving condoms. Obscene remarks. A basement ``Boom Boom Room'' where Bloody Marys were ladled from a garbage can.
A college fraternity? No, a Long Island branch office of the brokerage house Smith Barney, as alleged in a sexual discrimination suit.
Three women - one current and two former employees - claim that Smith Barney's Garden City office was run like an Animal House for more than a decade. The lawsuit, filed Monday, seeks unspecified monetary damages, back pay and appropriate promotions and seniority.
The lawsuit is ``totally absurd and without merit,'' company spokeswoman Mary McDermott said. ``The suit is actually about one former broker and two of her associates who were unhappy with one branch out of about 470 branches.''
The plaintiffs accuse the firm of discriminating against women in hiring, training, promotion and pay. They say they were physically abused, intimidated and showered with obscene language.
Branch manager Nicholas Cuneo allegedly created a basement party room, where men would be summoned via a public address system to come drink Bloody Marys from an oversize garbage can in the ``Boom Boom Room,'' according to the suit.
One plaintiff, former broker Pamela Martens, 49, said Cuneo grabbed her and kissed her during her only visit to the room.
Other executives engaged in such acts as whisking condoms to female employees through pneumatic message tubes, the three say.
The lawsuit said Cuneo told an all-female sales assistants' meeting that the women were required to work at his charity golf tournament and dress in short skirts to serve coffee to male brokers.
Martens and the two other women - former sales assistant Roberta O'Brien-Thomann, 29, and sales assistant Judith Mione, 56 - charged the firm repeatedly refused to take action against the male managers.
McDermott said the claims were addressed immediately.
Employees said the company had advised them not to comment.
McDermott said, ``There is no difference in earning power of women brokers or men brokers. There is no glass ceiling. Your payout as a broker is strictly on commission. It is based on your production.''
LENGTH: Short : 48 linesby CNB