Former Citigroup broker claims she was victim of gender discrimination

A former Citigroup Inc. broker in New York has sued the bank claiming she was reduced to “a glorified secretary” because of her gender and fired when she reported a superior for violating rules designed to prevent insider trading. Erin Daly claims she lost the ability to make stock allocations among clients at Citi Private Bank. People with the power to distribute shares in initial public offerings “were seen as extremely valuable by clients and by other employees,” she said in a complaint filed Monday in Manhattan federal court. When she questioned in an e-mail whether her authority was taken away because she's a woman, Ms. Daly said she was reprimanded by human resources and forced to apologize. Ms. Daly, who said she worked for Citigroup from 2007 to 2014, said she was fired two weeks after reporting a supervisor who demanded she pass along protected inside information so it could be given to favored clients. Ms. Daly claimed the firm included false, negative information about her in a filing with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. that will make it impossible for her to work in finance in the future. “We believe the claims alleged are without merit and intend to vigorously defend against them,” Citigroup spokeswoman Danielle Romero-Apsilos said Monday in an e-mail. Ms. Daly is seeking unspecified damages, including front pay and double her lost back pay. The case is Daly v. Citigroup Inc., 16-cv-09183, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.