Citigroup Employee Fired For Being Too Hot

by Ruthie Friedlander | 2:18 pm, June 3rd, 2010

Once upon a time, being good looking was a woman’s hot ticket into the workforce. Men on Madison Avenue would hire pretty young things as eye candy, only to be floored when they performed as well as their male counterparts. Being hot got you in the door. Now, it seems to be doing the opposite.

The NY Daily News reports Debrahlee Lorenzana, a Citigroup employee, got the boot for being too sexy. We’re all for office appropriate attire, but it seems Citigroup may have gone a bit overboard with this one.

Lorenzana blames her curves for being dubbed “too distracting” to her male coworkers. “I can’t help it that I have curves,” she told the NY Daily News. “And I’m not going to go eat and gain 50 or 100 pounds because my job wants me to be the same size as everyone else.”

According to the suit she filed with the Manhattan Supreme Court, Lorenzana was told that her pencil skirts, suits, and even her turtlenecks were too sexy for the workplace. “Never did I ever show cleavage,” Lorenzana insists. “I always dressed professionally.”

She was subsequently moved to an isolated area of the office, kept out of site from clients and colleagues. And after a month, she was fired.

A turtleneck? Sexy? Seems a bit strange. Unless the turtleneck was skin tight or had some Gucci Spring 2010 inspired cut out, we doubt it could have been too racy.

Citigroup refused to comment for the NY Daily News but offered a statement claiming her suit was filed “without merit,” and that the company “is committed to fostering a culture of inclusion and providing a respectful environment in the workplace.”

This isn’t the first time Lorenzana has had to endure the tribulations of being sexy. “I get harassed in the supermarket with my son just wearing sweatpants with my hair in a ponytail,” she lamented. “I can’t help how I look.”

Poor Debrahlee. Right Said Fred said it right in his musical masterpiece “I’m Too Sexy.” I guess Lorenzana can offer a new lyric: I’m too sexy for my job. Too sexy for my job. I’ll get another job.

[via New York Daily News]