Echoes of Don in lawsuit vs. hedge fund
The CEO of a $9 billion hedge fund had a Trumpian response to a female employee’s sexual harassment complaint, dismissing it as mere “lockerroom talk,” a new lawsuit claims.
Courtney Robb charges in her suit filed Monday that she complained to Advent Capital CEO Tracy Maitland (inset) about a “rampant sexist environment” where men shamelessly commented on women’s looks and ranked their appearance. Another Advent employee allegedly said on the trading floor that Chelsea Clinton was a three “on her best day.”
But Maitland shrugged off a male colleague’s lewd comments as “locker-room talk” and told Robb she was “making some things into a bigger deal than they needed to be,” according to the Manhattan Federal Court suit.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, President Trump infamously defended his comments about grabbing women by their genitals as “locker-room talk.”
When Robb started in 2016 as an investment associate maintaining client relationships, she says, she quickly learned that bros at the hedge fund played the juvenile game “f—k, marry, kill.”
One employee told Robb she was at “wife” status because of her reputation as an “uptight b—-h,” according to the suit.
Chelsea Clinton was ranked in the game because the hedge fund was in the same Midtown office building as the Clinton Foundation, the suit says.
Maitland had little sympathy for Robb after she sounded the alarm about the workplace harassment, according to the suit.
“What do you want me to do? Hire more women? They just end up leaving to take care of kids!” Maitland allegedly said.
Robb claims she was fired shortly after voicing her complaints.