Female City bankers sue over sexist honkers comments

Two female City workers are suing Japanese bank Nomura for £3million after claiming they suffered sexism from male colleagues who said that women "belong at home cleaning the floors" and commented on another woman’s “honkers”.

Maureen Murphy, 30, and Anna Francis, 37, claim they were hounded out of work by sexist and racist attitudes at the leading investment bank

They are each seeking £1.5 million in compensation for loss of earnings and injury to feelings. In legal papers, Miss Murphy claims that during a business meeting one male client said to her female colleague “Oh, you don't have your honkers out today I see”.



The documents say: "Miss Murphy was initially not sure what he was referring to but [the colleague] clarified honkers referred to her breasts. "She went on to say there was no point in standing up to him as he would smear your reputation in the entire market and that ultimately it was better just to accept it."

Miss Murphy also claimed that when she was chatting to a trader about hiring a cleaner he allegedly said “Well, you're a woman. That's where you belong – at home cleaning the floors”. At a team dinner, another male colleague allegedly said “Everyone knows the key to cheating on your wife is not getting caught”.

Miss Murphy says that she was excluded from clients and marginalised before being made redundant in March this year. She also claims that she was ridiculed for her American accent, with traders allegedly making remarks like “Go for it” in a mock accent.