A former Goldman Sachs banker claims she was discriminated against at a UK-based hedge fund, where her boss allegedly dinged her for her “direct approach” and for working “irrational hours.” Ex-Goldman banker Sedef Koktenturk claims in a lawsuit that London-based Genesis Investment Management, discriminated against her because she was a woman — and that it gave her an especially hard time because she had worked at the Wall Street giant, according to a report. It was part of a sexist double standard at Genesis, she alleged, claiming that if she were a man, her “success and direct approach” — not to mention her Goldman resume — would have been prized by the firm. “There’s a stereotype of culture they think is at Goldman Sachs,” Koktenturk testified at a Jan. 26 hearing on the case. Those stereotypes are used “to discriminate against women,” Koktenturk added. “I was told to remove Goldman Sachs multiple times from my CV,” she said. “They’re using the same definitions to stereotype me and they think it’s the culture.” In an email, her boss Chris Ellyatt wrote to a colleague that Koktenturk worked “irrational hours” and suggested that habit “comes from Goldman.” Genesis — a London based firm, vehemently denies all charges of discrimination and sexism. In a statement, Ellyatt said his comment about “this not being Goldman Sachs” was entirely related to her not needing to put in “silly hours,” Bloomberg reported. see also “The fact that Sedef had previously worked at Goldman Sachs did not give me a pre-determined view of her,” Ellyatt said in a statement. “That said, in the finance industry it is well understood that Goldman Sachs has a unique culture and it demands much of its employees — there is very strong ‘presenteeism’ ethic which we do not have at Genesis.” Genesis also denies the claim that Koktenturk was asked to remove Goldman from her CV. “As a firm we are proud to have recruited professionals from across the global investment market and we treat all of our Genesis colleagues with dignity and respect,” the company said in a statement. Koktenturk, previously an executive director at Goldman’s investment management division, Koktenturk, was an associate partner at Genesis when she was dismissed in April 2020. She took a two-year break from finance to train and compete for Turkey at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and did stints at Goldman Sachs before and after her Olympic experience, accoridng to Bloomberg. Koktenturk said she had been working similar hours at Genesis to those she had put in at Goldman. “Ultimately, Genesis is an asset management company, and, like any asset management company, their number one priority is making money,” Koktenturk said.
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