Smith Barney Accused of Sex Discrimination

One current and three former female brokers sued Citigroup Inc.’s Smith Barney unit Thursday, accusing the brokerage of discriminating against them and other female employees.

The suit, filed in federal court in San Francisco, claims that Smith Barney steered accounts to male brokers and gave women fewer opportunities to increase their commissions. The suit seeks to represent about 5,000 current and former female employees at the firm, said their lawyer, Kelly Dermody of Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein in San Francisco.

“Smith Barney’s practice is to distribute accounts and business opportunities to male financial consultants in numbers greatly disproportionate to those distributed to similarly situated female consultants,” the complaint said.

The women claimed in their complaint that branch managers at the company’s Santa Rosa and Walnut Creek, Calif., offices steered new and existing accounts to male brokers and retaliated against female employees when they complained to their bosses or to the company’s human resources department.

The lawsuit claims the discrimination began in August 2003.

Susan Thomson, a spokeswoman for Citigroup, the world’s largest financial services company, said she couldn’t comment on the women’s allegations because the bank could find no publicly filed copy of the complaint.

“Significant diversity initiatives in the last several years have established Smith Barney among the most progressive employers in the securities industry in terms of providing a professional and respectful work environment,” Thomson said.

Citigroup added 2 cents to close at $44.94 on the New York Stock Exchange.