NEW YORK — When Megan Messina, a long-time Bank of America executive, learned that she would receive an $1.6 million bonus for her work in 2015, she should have been thrilled. The average bonus on Wall Street last year was just $146,000. But Messina, 42, is suing for gender discrimination after learning that a male colleague with the same job title and similar responsibilities allegedly received a $5.5 million bonus that year. “As the only woman in a sea of men … Messina never stood a chance to be included and therefore never stood a chance to succeed,” according to a lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District Court of Manhattan. In the lawsuit, Messina, describes a “bros club” at one of the country’s largest banks that penalized her for being a woman. Women in her position, the lawsuit claims, were treated as “second-class citizens.” The case taps into long-held concerns that Wall Street has lagged in addressing the lack of women and racial minorities at the top of the country’s largest financial institutions. Women account for just 2 percent of financial industry CEOs, according to Catalyst, a nonprofit group. They hold about 29 percent of executive or senior-level positions in the industry. Bank of America, which declined to comment on the specifics of the lawsuit, has said that about 50 percent of its global workforce and 30 percent of its senior leadership are women. “We take all allegations of inappropriate behavior seriously and investigate them thoroughly,” the company said in a statement. Messina joined Bank of America in 2007 and was promoted to managing director in 2011, according to the lawsuit. She was named co-head of global structured credit products and credit assets in 2015. But Messina was treated “more like a summer intern than an accomplished, experienced, and successful Managing Director at one of the world’s largest banks, where her role was responsible for annual generating hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue,” the lawsuit alleges. In her first conversation with her new boss, Messina was asked whether she colored her hair and about the color of her eyes, according to the lawsuit. “Surely Kotsen would not ask those irrelevant questions if Messina were a man.” Messina has also filed complaints with the Department of Labor and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She alleges that after she voiced concerns to her superiors about the alleged gender discrimination, Bank of America tried to push her out. Messina is currently on administrative leave.
Bank of America executive Megan Smith is suing her employer for gender discrimination after alleging that a male colleague in an equivalent position to her own received a $ 5.5 m bonus in 2015 whilst her own bonus was $ 1.6 m . Messina has referred to a “ bros club ” at the bank – one of the largest in the US – that viewed women as “ second - class citizens ” . Nonprofit group Catalyst states that just 2 % of financial industry CEOs , and 29 % of executives , are women . Bank of America claims that 30 % of its senior roles , and 40 % of all of its positions , are occupied by women . Messina , who claims that her employers attempted to force her to leave after she raised concerns , has also lodged complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Labor .