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City boss and his 'brothel of women brokers'
Ellen Widdup and Rashid Razaq2 Mar 2009
A CITY boss said he felt he was "running a brothel" and referred to women brokers on his staff as a "team of prostitutes", it was claimed today.
The allegation came from Rosemarie Corscadden, 51, who says she was bullied and overlooked for promotions and bonuses after rejecting the advances of Jerry Lees, who asked her to sleep with him.
The £80,000-a-year banker could be awarded £5million if a London tribunal finds she was the victim of sexual discrimination and harassment.
Divorced Mr Lees, who is British, is head of a sales team at Cheuvreux, a European equity broker within the Credit Agricole Group.
Ms Corscadden says that during a grievance investigation Mr Lees denied the brothel and prostitute comments but said he may have referred to brokers as the "whores of the industry".
Ms Corscadden, who has worked in financial services for more than 30 years, says the campaign against her started six months after she was employed by Cheuvreux as part of its alternative execution sales team.
The broker, of Sawbridgeworth, Herts, says in her witness statement to be submitted to the tribunal that it started with sexual comments, sexual banter and inappropriate emails but escalated quickly with Mr Lees propositioning.
In January 2005 she went with Mr Lees on a business trip to Amsterdam. "Mr Lees told me that he had always found me attractive and that he wanted to make love to me," she says. "Mr Lees told me he was not looking for a one-night stand but that he would help me with my business if we had great sex. He stated that I would become very successful and earn great money if I agreed to this. I told Mr Lees that I did not want a relationship. I told him I wanted the conversation to stop.
"I was shocked and felt extremely uncomfortable. I felt as though Mr Lees was treating me like a prostitute by implying that I would be financially rewarded if I participated in a sexual relationship with him."
She says in the statement that she believed other female colleagues had also been propositioned and some had had relationships with Mr Lees.
She was set to tell the tribunal: "He frequently told me that it was 'inevitable' that we would sleep together and repeatedly made inappropriate sexual comments about my appearance, my figure and my legs."
In April 2007, Ms Corscadden went on a business trip with Mr Lees to Monaco. "He asked me again to spend the night with him," she says.
"I repeated that I was not interested. He ignored me and told me that he would do "unbelievable things" to me and that it would be the best sex I had ever had."
Two months later she claims: "He said he still fancied me and asked when we were going to get together. I told him 'never'. I felt angry and humiliated."
A spokesman for Credit Agricole and Cheuvreux denied Ms Corscadden had been the victim of sexual discrimination and harassment. "CA Cheuvreux operates an equal opportunities policy throughout its global operations," he said. "The company sees equality and dignity in the workplace as the bedrock of good working practices."
Her case is against Cheuvreux and Mr Lees. She is also claiming she was sexually discriminated against by two other senior executives.
