Lobna Abdelrehim
Abdelrehim’s lawsuit states that she has been subjected to an “overtly and disturbing sexually hostile work environment” at GDS International’s Wall Street offices. The complaint describes a workplace that is “rife with unwelcome sex-based bodily contact, such as hugs, patting, and face and forehead kissing.”
Abdelrehim alleges that sexually inappropriate company-wide emails referring to topics such as “MILFs” were regularly distributed. In addition, her lawsuit claims that she and other saleswomen were given “overtly sexist and demeaning sales propaganda, exhorting [them] to use their feminine wiles as a sale closing technique.”
For example, one company memo was entitled “Using your SEX to Sell and the Boulevard to Bombshell Bitchiness,” which included tips for female employees to “flirt to get what [you] want” and how female employees “can get away with being aggressive because its sexy.”
Abdelrehim, a Muslim, also claims that religious discrimination against Muslims was common at GDS International. For example, emails were circulated among employees “depicting men in Muslim garb as raging homicidal terrorists.”
After Abdelrehim complained to the HR manager about the hostile work environment, she alleges that company management “made no attempt to credibly investigate, let alone redress,” her complaints. Instead, she claims that she was retaliated against for having complained by being demoted shortly afterwards, and she was told that she would be fired if she didn’t achieve an extremely high and “unrealistic” sales quota.
——————–
Got a tip about a bad boss that eBossWatch should feature? Do you want to expose your toxic boss? Let us know! Send us an email at tips@ebosswatch.com
Connect with eBossWatch on Facebook and Twitter and support our struggle against workplace bullying!
eBossWatch 