Malcolm Perry is suing Dresdner for $20 million, charging that the bank discriminated against his non-Germanic heritage. Perry, an Australian working in England, lost his job after Dresdner restructured its London office last year.
Actively involved in restructuring talks, Perry was surprised to hear from a more connected colleague (pictured) that “[Dresdner management] wants to turn it back to a German bank.”
One contentious point of the lawsuit is that Perry admits to leaving a restructuring meeting due to a hangover, at which point a series of unplanned discussions took place, including what to do with Perry’s drunk arse.
After the restructuring, Perry was canned, and six of the nine capital markets division managers were German (the remaining three just loved Hasselhoff, spoke German).
Dresdner insists that it is not trying to systematically eliminate non-Germans from its ranks, or the ranks of mankind.
In other news French banks are already surrendering their capital to Dresdner.
City banker not 'German enough' [BBC]
Posted by gen. turgidson , Sep 14, 2007 11:34AM
Keith - good job filling the nazi-referencing void left by Beth's absence.
Posted by harvey , Sep 14, 2007 12:31PM
i read just about every post that comes across here (at least the titles and a few lines until i get bored), and those last two sentences may have been the best i have read on this site, ever.
Posted by ron burgundy , Sep 14, 2007 12:32PM
lol. this is the funniest thing i've read from this website since yesterday!
Posted by ron burgundy , Sep 14, 2007 12:32PM
lol. this is the funniest thing i've read from this website since yesterday!
Posted by anonymous , Sep 14, 2007 12:38PM
This is a great piece! There's more than a kernel of truth to the matter. As a German-American, I think that non-Germans simply are not smart or driven enough, and Dresdner recognises this. I mean, as the work forces of Anglo countries fill up with imported asians, blacks, hispanics, mozzies, and others, due to an ideological obsession with "gloablisation," it's a major competitive advantage to make sure your employee make-up remains solidly German(ic).
Posted by , Sep 14, 2007 12:43PM
thanks for the perspective you nazi bastard. wtf is a mozzie?
Posted by Adolph Himmler , Sep 14, 2007 12:45PM
On a related note:
Isn't work today great without all the pushy, greedy, horn having, evil heebs?
Posted by anonymous' b!tch , Sep 14, 2007 12:46PM
i can now post guilt free knowing my boss is doing the same on a friday afternoon. i never knew he could be so honest about his views.
Posted by Tlihehtot , Sep 14, 2007 12:46PM
As an employee of a french bank, i can tell you this:
We have this thing called the Maginot Line that will keep ze Germans from taking a look at our wine-soaked, cheese-covered, cigarette-burned balance sheets.
Spreken ze subprime?
Of course, they do require us to keep white flags under our desks. (Plan B).
Posted by Fake Rick Steves , Sep 14, 2007 1:00PM
Trees line the country roads in France because the Germans like to march in the shade, you know.
Posted by Bonapart , Sep 14, 2007 1:12PM
In my day the French Imperial Guard was the most feared regiment on the continent. How quickly the Germans have forgotten the lessons of Austerlitz.
NB,
Emperor of the French
King of Italy
Protector of the Confederate of the Rhine
Posted by nametaBP , Sep 14, 2007 1:15PM
Oddly, the article doesn't mention Dresdner's recent adoption of a new theme song for the bank.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65v8Bcrzisc
Posted by Wellington , Sep 14, 2007 1:18PM
Austerlitz?
Perhaps you might wish to harken back to a small event in southern Belgium, my friend... and you may also wish to have a word with my colleague Herr Blucher...
Tell me, is St. Helena nice this time of year?
Posted by Echtleder , Sep 14, 2007 1:34PM
"Two world wars and one world cup, doo dah, doo dah!"
If they want a truly German bank, they'll need to:
- put everyone in assless lederhosen,
- have the CEO in a gimp mask with ball gag being ridden by Jurgen Schrempf in a black leather cop costume,
- have der Hasselhoff do all their commercials,
- spend die Pausen in the markets drinking beer (as done on the exchange floor), and
- tolerate far more employees who are drunk or mit Katzenjammeren.
Some of these steps may already have been taken!
Posted by de Cosmos , Sep 14, 2007 2:07PM
Basil Fawlty: “Don't mention the war!”
Posted by VE-day , Sep 14, 2007 2:38PM
Yep , those French and German banks have really done a great job on the world stage
Posted by anonymous @ 12:38 , Sep 14, 2007 5:01PM
Keep laughing, yanks.
But the Germans (and other Europeans) are going to have the last laugh, as the US dollar loses 50% of its value in the next 2-3 years, inflation skyrockets, unemplyment explodes, and you have race riots in the streets from all of those third world slaves you imported to do the hard work. You're going to get owned.
This might be a good time to learn German.
Posted by , Sep 14, 2007 5:10PM
that sounds vaguely similar to what hitler said 70years ago, you nazi pig. don't make us dresden your dresdner butt again.
Posted by counting the seconds 'til miss bess is back , Sep 14, 2007 8:06PM
"good job filling the nazi-referencing void left by Beth's absence." you sir, are a fucking idiot.
Posted by @counting , Sep 14, 2007 9:53PM
You said: "you sir, are a fucking idiot."
You need a comma preceding "sir", like so: You, sir, are a fucking idiot who cannot even punctuate a sentence properly.
Hugs and kisses,
Grammar Nazi (who works at Dresdner bank)