Sexism storm rocks Lloyd’s of London
Women are called ‘totty’ and rated from one to ten on attractiveness
ONE of the City’s grandest institutions faces a sexism storm after an investigation exposed claims of harassment, assault and bullying.
Female victims say they were abused and attacked by male bosses within the insurance market Lloyd’s of London, followed by efforts to silence them.
Women at Lloyd’s are referred to as ‘totty’ by staff and rated from one to ten on their ‘shagability’, according to an investigation by Bloomberg Businessweek.
One woman was attacked by a drunk senior manager in a City pub, but employers persuaded her to drop the complaint, it is claimed.
Another woman was allegedly grabbed in a taxi by her boss after a night out, then moved to a new department after complaining, while he kept his job.
And secretaries were picked based on their looks by insurers seeking to win more business.
When Lloyd’s appointed its first female boss, Dame Inga Beale, in 2014 to try to solve the problem, it is claimed that she faced a barrage of anonymous letters including one which called for her to ‘go and die’.
The allegations were met with horror from equality campaigners and MPs last night.
Tory MP Nicky Morgan, chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, said: ‘This appears to be a horrific story. Everything must be done to ensure that this behaviour is stamped out immediately.’
Jayne-Anne Gadhia, former head of Virgin Money and a campaigner against City sexism, said: ‘This kind of behaviour has no place in our society, our country or our city.’
Bad behaviour at Lloyd’s ranges from abusive language to outright assault, according to Bloomberg, which spoke to 18 women there.
In one of the worst cases, a woman claims she was attacked in a pub near Lloyd’s by a manager when he was drunk. She claims to have been persuaded to drop the complaint by her employer because it would be bad for her career. Another woman was allegedly sharing a taxi with a drunken manager after a night out. She claims he tried to grab her and she was so scared she jumped from the car.
The woman said: ‘After that, he basically started bullying me, and things got progressively worse.’
She was allegedly marginalised and was moved to another part of the business after complaining. Her attacker is said to have kept his job. The revelations chime with last year’s investigation into the Presidents Club men-only charity dinner held in London and primarily attended by finance workers. Undercover reporters from the Financial Times witnessed hostesses being groped, sexually harassed and propositioned.
Lloyd’s of London, which began 333 years ago in a small coffee shop in the City, handles insurance for businesses all over the world.
It operates as a market where policies are bought and sold on its trading floors by independent brokers, traders and wealthy individuals who underwrite policies.
Much of the bad behaviour was reportedly carried out by people who work there but are not actually Lloyd’s employees.
The market has a long-standing drinking culture at lunchtimes and evenings, which the alleged victims say fuelled the harassment.
During her time in charge Dame Inga banned drinking in work time but this was largely ignored, and it is claimed she was told by Lloyd’s’ council and governing board that she spent too much time on diversity. She quit last year and has been replaced by John Neal, former head of Australian insurer QBE. Mr Neal (pictured) said: ‘We take it extremely seriously and will be talking to the Lloyd’s market to ensure that we stamp out these inappropriate behaviours.’
‘Drinking culture at lunchtimes’