When the financial company deVere Group hired Philippa Okoye—the wife of 49ers defensive tackle Lawrence Okoye—to be a senior investment adviser in late 2013, she was the only woman working in their New York City office. And in a lawsuit that she just filed against the company, she claims that that presented quite a few problems for her.
In her lawsuit, Okoye says that she was routinely subjected to sexism and racism by some of her 21 male coworkers. According to her, her boss, identified in the suit as Benjamin Alderson, once asked her, "How many cheerleaders has your boyfriend fucked today?" He also told her, "He's probably fucked the whole cheerleading squad by now." And another man who worked at the company reportedly told her, "I think it's disgusting when white women go out with black guys."
Okoye claims that it was all part of Alderson's plan to "model [their] office on the Boiler Room and Wolf of Wall Street films." And now, she's suing them for their "extremely inappropriate conduct, including sexual harassment and drug and alcohol use in the workplace."
deVere shot down all of Okoye's claims when contacted by the New York Post. But Okoye says she was demoted and then later fired for complaining about the treatment she received while with the company. So she is suing them for damages. Stay tuned to see if she ends up winning her lawsuit.
Send all complaints, compliments, and tips to sportstips@complex.com.
[via New York Post]
