Single Mom Fired From Citibank Suing For Sexual Harassment

Can a woman be so drop-dead gorgeous that she's distracting to look at, even in a turtleneck? That's what former Citibank employee Debrahlee Lorenzana thinks.

The 33-year-old single mother was recently, um, canned from Citi because - she says - her employers found her wardrobe to be unprofessional. She feels she was discriminated against for being too beautiful and is suing Citi for sexual harassment.

You know, Debrahlee, we have a lot in common. I'm also a 33-year-old single mother. In fact, I'm quite sure the only reason I'm not dating anyone right now is because I'm too hot. Men just can't handle this. In fact, Friday night, I was hosting a show, and someone said, "You look hot tonight!" And I thought, "Does she mean sweaty?" Cuz I am that hot. HOT.

According to the Daily News , Lorenzana said higher-ups told her, "'Oh, your pants are too tight. You cannot wear turtlenecks. You cannot wear pencil skirts because you draw too much attention.'" Now, I'm not trying to make light of what might be a serious situation, because I know how difficult it can be as a woman to conform to corporate dress, especially during the summer months. I temped at various Wall Street firms for years, and I once got in trouble for wearing well-tailored black capri pants that fell below the knee. It was one of those 98 degree days in New York and I got derided for wearing "shorts." Meanwhile, my colleagues in their much shorter pencil skirts were considered appropriately dressed. (Another firm allowed me to wear jeans for months as an admin, until finally one of my favorite guys on the sales desk said, "You know, I don't care if you wear jeans, but I think the other girls are getting jealous.")

I'm just saying, Lorenzana makes it sound like she simply can't control the ravages of her beauty and that no matter what she wore she was left feeling helpless. There are photos of her in various clingy outfits all over the Internet, and while I don't think they're at all unprofessional, it doesn't seem like she went out of her way to minimize the "flounce," as a friend of mine was once was chided for. Too much flounce in the workplace! Maybe she should have just come to work naked?

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