A few weeks ago, John Thomas Financial CEO Thomas Belesis demanded respect for a group of people, the denizens of Wall Street, who, while labeled “different” from the rest of society because of their alternative professions, are still human beings who deserve to be treated fairly. Belesi did so by organizing a rally on his firm’s trading floor attended almost exclusively by the people whose desks are there. He mostly spoke in broad terms, since this was the first event of its kind, and the organizers just wanted to get their name and cause out there. But now, let us get down to specifics. Wall Streeters should not be ashamed of what they do, or try to hide it behind closed doors for fear of judgment or backlash. For instance, before JB started JTF, he worked at place where strippers danced regularly on the trading floor, labia rings were sniffed, breasts were used as napkins, and junior employees mopped up their boss’s jizz. But outside the halls of the firm, no one was allowed to talk about it. And not only that, but people actually got in trouble with the law for this sort of thing! And if you’re Thomas Belesis, you’re probably thinkin’ “that ain’t right.”
Lew Lieberbaum is probably the best-known of Belesis’s former employers, thanks to a 1997 federal suit brought against it by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in which various female employees testified to having been subjected to a degrading work environment. The “daily torrent and virtual hailstorm of sexual harassment” on the trading floor has been documented in a 50-page complaint and gobsmacked media reports. Lesbian strippers were allegedly a regular fixture on the trading floor, and one dancer was asked to remove her labia ring so male employees could petition female employees to sniff it. Brokers were allegedly assigned to mop up the whipped cream and bodily fluids resulting from an exec’s midday frolic with his secretary. A female employee said that refusing a male superior’s sexual demands was grounds for termination; men regularly wiped food-covered hands on women’s breasts; a junior partner was said to have sometimes picked his nose and then rammed his finger into female brokers’ sandwiches. The complaint resulted in a $1.75 million settlement — and sparked related cases.
CEO Dedicated to ‘Polishing Wall Street’s Image’ Allegedly Worked On A Trading Floor Where Lesbian Strippers Performed [Daily Intel]
Revenge Of The Wall Street Traders [Daily Finance]
break me off a piece a that!
holy crap
that’s out, there, even for me.
-PJ
Removing labia rings to sniff some smelly vajayjay is the new killin’ it
‘Brokers were allegedly assigned to mop up the whipped cream and bodily fluids resulting from an exec’s midday frolic with his secretary.’
wow
‘men regularly wiped food-covered hands on women’s breasts;’
didn’t they have any napkins?
-aig quant
‘one dancer was asked to remove her labia ring so male employees could petition female employees to sniff it.’
speechless
this kind of stuff happens all the time…no big deal
In the UBS Telecom group we wipe our hands on the admins’ breats all the time.
Only the admins are black men.
@9 and “breasts” = cock
ok, the sandwich thing is just gross.
was that wrong? should I not have done that?
Theres no way this could be true, however if you saw this guys pic you can tell hes into some shady stuff. Just looks evil and scummy
@13 would you have believed a male trader was once forced to take female hormone pills, wear dresses, and blow his boss for trade approval?
ah, the good old days…now I have to take the DB (Bess is it going?)bus to Connecticut for such shows.
If nothing else, this just sounds so… um…unsanitary. Where’s the NYC Dept of Health?
@16 i know, the sandwich thing? jesus.
Euphemism sandwiches are best served with mayonaise.
Ah, the 90′s. Good times.
Call me old-fashioned, but I remember a time when the world was smaller, people were more polite, and bankers pounded their secretaries from behind with a little class.
and how is this different from any other trading floor?
- Macquarie BSD
Bess, you have hit a new low with this post. Thank you.
This kind of thing used to happen at RBC all the time. No big deal.
@22 you’re a douche
That is no way to treat a sandwich. I am shocked and appalled.
22 kill yourself
@22 yes, b/c bess caused all the above to happen, instead of merely writing about it. idiot.
@22 and yet, you’ve stuck around this whole time.
@22 – You are right. Bess instigated the entire thing because she hates sandwiches. Is today the worst day of your life?
@25, esp not a SILF.
22, you’ve hit a new low with your comment
@24/26/27/28/29 please enter “moosefister” into the search box in the above right and then go kill yourselves
-not 22, but someone mildly amused by his subtlety
@30 bless you, guest.
That pic never gets old.
@32 = @32
The first rule of John Thomas Financial is that you do not talk about John Thomas Financial.
Stuff like that would never happen in the energy business!
~Denver Office of MMS
#37 bless you for that reference
@22 was being funny but it was so subtle many missed it.
Thanking Bess for the “new low” was more appreciative than snarky.
#39 it is so depressing that that is what is considered “subtle” on the internet. #22 suicide pact?
she ate that sandwich, true story.
I am a journalism student at NYU and recently went on an interview at John Thomas Financial for an undercover piece on boiler rooms and was blown away. The people actually refer to the floor as the “boiler” an talk openly about how they are going to scam clients with randomly selected stocks. The kids that work there are underachieving 22-yr old criminals who have nothing more than hustling mentalities and GEDs
9Eaec8 Im grateful for the blog.Really looking forward to read more. Much obliged.