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For years, Christine O\u2019Reilly, a broker at the interdealer brokerage TP ICAP, alleges she suffered sexual harassment from Benjamin Waters, a trader at Citigroup<\/a> and a client, who would send her late-night messages, spread rumors they were sleeping together and once tried to follow her into her hotel room, O\u2019Reilly claims. The unwelcome advances got so bad that in 2023, she finally blocked him on the messaging platform WhatsApp.\u00a0<\/p>\n But when O\u2019Reilly\u2019s supervisor found out, the 31-year-old broker alleges she was forced to unblock the trader, \u201ctying her job to the need to tolerate sexual harassment,\u201d according to a lawsuit filed in a Mahattan federal court on Monday<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The incident is just one of several outlined in the suit\u2014filed by O\u2019Reilly against TP ICAP, Citigroup, and her supervisor, Janie McCathie\u2014that reveal \u201chow unethical traders at powerful financial institutions exploit control over lucrative order flows to extract inappropriate personal favors from brokers,\u201d according to the complaint. Waters is not listed as a defendant, but the suit claims there was a second Citi employee who allegedly knew about the harassment pattern and did nothing.<\/p>\n \u201cNo professional should have to choose between suffering or enduring harassment and losing a career,\u201d Seth Redniss, the lawyer representing O\u2019Reilly, told Fortune<\/em>. \u201cThat\u2019s not a choice, that\u2019s coercion.\u201d<\/p>\n Citi told Fortune <\/em>that \u201cthe two individuals directly connected to Citi who are named in the suit are no longer with the bank,\u201d but declined to comment further. ICAP did respond to repeated requests for comment.<\/p>\n In June 2017, the suit says O\u2019Reilly was promoted to broker on ICAP\u2019s Delta One MSCI Desk in New York, where she began reporting to McCathie, who was based in London. It was through McCathie that she first met Waters, who the complaint describes as a high-value trader who could direct billions of dollars in cash flow toward the brokerage.<\/p>\n Between 2020 and 2023, the suit alleges that Waters, based in London, made persistent and unwanted advances toward O\u2019Reilly, with McCathie\u2019s full knowledge. Screenshots included in the suit show Waters making repeated video calls and sending text messages to O\u2019Reilly on WhatsApp despite receiving no response.<\/p>\n The suit also alleges that Waters sent sexually explicit messages to O\u2019Reilly, asking her to send photos of herself and twice sharing nearly nude photos of a woman he said he was dating. Waters also messaged O\u2019Reilly on Instagram<\/a> to ask what she was wearing, according to a screenshot in the suit.\u00a0<\/p>\n On July 26, 2023, screenshots show that O\u2019Reilly blocked Waters on WhatsApp. But McCathie ordered O\u2019Reilly to unblock him, the suit alleges, and screenshots then show O\u2019Reilly unblocking Waters on Tuesday, Aug. 8. That Saturday, Waters sent O\u2019Reilly a photo of himself getting drinks with McCathie, \u200b\u200b\u201creminding Ms. O\u2019Reilly of his perceived untouchable status,\u201d the complaint alleges.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was me telling you \u2026 you didn\u2019t read between the lines,\u201d he wrote Aug. 25, after O\u2019Reilly didn\u2019t respond to the earlier message.<\/p>\n He then called O\u2019Reilly, who didn\u2019t respond, and a day later texted her, \u201care you even alive?\u201d<\/p>\n In September 2023, Waters left a comment on one of O\u2019Reilly\u2019s Instagram posts, saying, \u201cnice feet,\u201d screenshots show. O\u2019Reilly sent him an angry response saying he was bombarding her with messages that didn\u2019t relate to their professional relationship and asking him what he wanted.<\/p>\n But when O\u2019Reilly shared the exchange in her work WhatsApp group, her bosses scolded her for upsetting a client, and had an extended back-and-forth on the best way to mend the relationship, including drafting an apology for O\u2019Reilly to send to Waters, according to the complaint.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201c[Christine] this isn\u2019t cool,\u201d McCathie texted, according to screenshots. \u201cHe\u2019s our client and is important to us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n She later asked, \u201cAm I ever going to see another order from him now after that message?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere is this view that you know what you are getting into as a woman. You are expected to play the game,\u201d O\u2019Reilly told Bloomberg<\/em>. \u201cIt\u2019s slimy and disgusting.\u201d<\/p>\n For Citigroup, the case is the second suit in the past year alleging sexual harassment within its equities trading division. In November, a managing director alleged that a top equity banker in Citi\u2019s North American markets division threatened her and her children if she continued to refuse his advances<\/a>, and her lawsuit accuses the bank of allowing a \u201cnotoriously hostile\u201d culture toward women to develop in its equities division. Citi is seeking to have the charges dismissed.<\/p>\n O\u2019Reilly is still employed by ICAP, and has been on a leave of absence since earlier this year when she filed a formal complaint with the brokerage.<\/p>\n \u201cI know this will be a nail in the coffin for my broking career,\u201d she told Bloomberg<\/em>. \u201cI just hope that if people read these things, they realize it is wrong, it is so wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nRecommended Newsletter: <\/strong>CEO Daily provides key context for the news leaders need to know from across the world of business. Every weekday morning, more than 125,000 readers trust CEO Daily for insights about\u2013and from inside\u2013the C-suite. Subscribe Now<\/a>.<\/div>\n