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Citibank Fired Woman for 'Distracting' Men With Her Curves, Suit Says

By Patrick Hedlund | June 3, 2010 10:27am | Updated on June 3, 2010 12:28pm

By Patrick Hedlund

DNAinfo News Editor

MANHATTAN — A curvaceous banker at Citibank was a real head-turner — so much so she was fired from the firm for "distracting" male coworkers, a lawsuit says.

Debrahlee Lorenzana, 33, of Queens was asked by her bosses to refrain from wearing seemingly risqué outfits — including turtlenecks, pencil skirts, form-fitting suits and high heels — because she had too many tongues wagging at her Midtown office, the suit says, according to reports.

"In blatantly discriminatory fashion, plaintiff was advised that as a result of the shape of her figure, such clothes were purportedly 'too distracting' for her male colleagues and supervisors to bear," read the lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, according to the New York Post.

Debrahlee Lorenzana
Debrahlee Lorenzana
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Lorenzana claimed in the suit that other women in the office wore similar “professional attire,” but her superiors responded that the “general unattractiveness” of the other office women made their fashion choices immaterial, the Post reported.

"I can't help it that I have curves," Lorenzana told the Daily News, adding that she never even showed cleavage on the job.

"Debrahlee Lorenzana would be very attractive in a burka," her lawyer, Jack Tuckner, told the News.

The woman was originally hired in 2008 to work at Citibank’s offices in the Chrysler Building on 42nd Street, but was transferred to the company’s offices in Rockefeller Center in 2009, reports stated.

The suit charges she was moved to the new location as retaliation for her complaints about the alleged sexual harassment, and then fired a month later, the News reported.

Lorenzana signed a mandatory clause with Citibank as a condition of her employment stipulating that any disputes be settled by a private arbitrator, the Village Voice reported.

Lorenzana, who lives in Queens, was told not to wear turtlenecks, pencil skirts, form-fitting suits or high heels.
Lorenzana, who lives in Queens, was told not to wear turtlenecks, pencil skirts, form-fitting suits or high heels.
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The company denied the claims in a statement, according to reports.