Is This Woman Too Hot To Be a Banker?
Debrahlee Lorenzana says her no-account bosses fired her over her looks
Everything about Debrahlee Lorenzana is hot. Even her name sizzles. At five-foot-six and 125 pounds, with soft eyes and flawless bronze skin, she is J.Lo curves meets Jessica Simpson rack meets Audrey Hepburn elegance—a head-turning beauty. In many ways, the story of her life has been about getting attention from men—both the wanted and the unwanted kind. But when she got fired last summer from her job as a banker at a Citibank branch in Midtown—her bosses cited her work performance—she got even hotter. She sued Citigroup, claiming that she was fired solely because her bosses thought she was too hot.
This is the way Debbie Lorenzana tells it: Her bosses told her they couldn't concentrate on their work because her appearance was too distracting. They ordered her to stop wearing turtlenecks. She was also forbidden to wear pencil skirts, three-inch heels, or fitted business suits. Lorenzana, a 33-year-old single mom, pointed out female colleagues whose clothing was far more revealing than hers: "They said their body shapes were different from mine, and I drew too much attention," she says.
As Lorenzana's lawsuit puts it, her bosses told her that "as a result of the shape of her figure, such clothes were purportedly 'too distracting' for her male colleagues and supervisors to bear."
"Men are kind of drawn to her," says Tanisha Ritter, a friend and former colleague who also works as a banker and praises Lorenzana's work habits. "I've seen men turn into complete idiots around her. But it's not her fault that they act this way, and it shouldn't be her problem."
Because Citibank made Lorenzana sign a mandatory-arbitration clause as a condition of her employment, the case will never end up before a jury or judge. An arbitrator will decide. Citibank officials won't comment on the suit.
Her attorney, Jack Tuckner, who calls himself a "sex-positive" women's-rights lawyer, is the first one to say his client is a babe. But so what? For him, it all boils down to self-control. "It's like saying," Tuckner argues, "that we can't think anymore 'cause our penises are standing up—and we cannot think about you except in a sexual manner—and we can't look at you without wanting to have sexual intercourse with you. And it's up to you, gorgeous woman, to lessen your appeal so that we can focus!"
This isn't your typical sexual-harassment lawsuit, if there is such a thing. For one thing, such suits often claim that women are coerced into looking more sexy or are subjected to being pawed. Lorenzana claims that her bosses basically told her she was just too attractive. And when she raised hell and refused to do anything about it—as if there was anything she really could do about it—she lost her job.
Debbie Lorenzana—whose mother is Puerto Rican and father is Italian—came to New York from Puerto Rico 12 years ago. She was 21 and pregnant, and had a degree as an emergency medical technician from a technical college in Manatí, a small city on the northern coast. The father, she says, didn't want to have anything to do with her or the baby. So she moved back to the States, where she had lived in her mid-teens (pinballing between relatives' houses and group homes), and took care of her elderly grandparents in Connecticut. After her son was born, she moved to Queens to stay with a friend. Then she got her first job in finance: working as a sales representative at the Municipal Credit Union, in 2002. She moved to Jersey City and worked long hours. She was successful.
In April 2003, the Municipal Credit Union named her its sales rep of the month. On the other hand, she says, a manager once called her into his office to ask her opinion of a photograph. The picture he called up on his computer was of his penis. She complained about the incident. In her June 2003 resignation letter—written just two months after she was honored as a top employee—she wrote, "Due to the complaint I made regarding sexual harassment, my work environment has become hostile, painful, and unbearable."
She moved on to other jobs in the financial-services industry. After a stint selling health insurance to immigrants at Metropolitan Hospital in Queens, the hospital cited her in November 2003 for "providing world-class customer service" and for being the number one enroller in the office.
In August 2006, the district managers at Bank of America gave her a Customer Higher Standards Award on diploma paper, on which they wrote: "Debrahlee: You deserve to be recognized for going above and beyond."
She says she loved to work, and eventually was earning close to $70,000 a year. "My ex-boyfriend says it's my Spic pride," she says. "As long as I have two hands and two legs, and can still walk, I will always work, so my son will have a roof over his head and food."
And she will be well-dressed. Lorenzana is, by her own admission, a shopaholic. She shops for her work clothes at Zara, but when she has money, she says, she spends it on designer clothes. She has five closets full of Burberry, Hermès, Louis Vuitton, and Roberto Cavalli. In her son's closet, there's a row of tiny Lacoste, Dolce & Gabbana, and Ralph Lauren T-shirts. She says her love of fine clothes is a result of her growing up poor—she recalls running a high school marathon barefoot because she couldn't afford sneakers.
Escuelas y liceos del Serme participan en Feria “English Week” el viernes 2 de octubre
· En la Plaza Colón, a partir de las 9:30 horas, 150 estudiantes participarán en proyecto “Dynamic Arica” de la Red Básica del Serme que ganó concurso “Abren Puertas” del Mineduc.
Con el objetivo de desarrollar en los alumnos ariqueños la confianza en sus habilidades de expresarse en inglés, este viernes 2 de octubre, en la Plaza Colón, a partir de las 9:30 horas, se realizará la clausura de la segunda Feria de Inglés, con la participación de todas las escuelas y liceos del Servicio Municipal de Educación (Serme).
El proyecto denominado “Dynamic Arica”, organizado por la Red de Educación Básica del Serme, forma parte del Programa Inglés “Abre Puertas” del Ministerio de Educación, que este año, como estímulo, entregará 150 didácticos diccionarios inglés – español para los estudiantes.
La coordinadora del Equipo de Gestión Inglés-Básica, profesora Janett Peñailillo Gutiérrez, señaló que “seguimos considerando que es una oportunidad bastante valiosa para motivar a los padres a apoyar el aprendizaje de sus hijos en este idioma. Los temas que se desarrollarán este año también se relacionan con el Medio Ambiente”.
Cabe destacar que, actualmente, todos los establecimientos del Serme imparten inglés desde primero básico a cuarto medio, contando muchos de ellos con planes y programas propios.
Durante la feria, en cada stand, los alumnos darán a conocer a la comunidad y a los visitantes -en el idioma de Shakespeare-, distintos temas acerca de las bondades y bellezas de la ciudad y de la región, aplicando técnicas aprendidas en las Competencias de Public Speaking y Debates.
ESTIMULOS
De esta manera, también se muestra a la comunidad la calidad del aprendizaje y la enseñanza del idioma inglés en los establecimientos del Serme. “Además de todos los proyectos que hemos desarrollado para impulsar el aprendizaje del inglés, debo indicar que también el alcalde Waldo Sankán hizo recientemente una alianza con la Embajada de Estados Unidos, que va en el mismo sentido”, precisó la profesora Peñailillo.
En la actividad, a manera de estímulo, el Serme entregará 200 pent drives y gorros a los alumnos y profesores participantes en las competencias de disertación sobre las riquezas naturales, atractivos turísticos, flora y fauna, arqueología, entre otros temas que caracterizan a la región de Arica y Parinacota.
Para la feria“English Week”, cada escuela ha preparado un equipo que va a exponer por turnos, adecuando el tema al nivel de los alumnos. Además, se regalarán trípticos, folletos y pequeñas muestras de productos preparados por cada escuela y liceo del Serme.
Asimismo, se ha programado presentaciones artísticas de música, folclóre y bandas escolares. Janett Peñailillo reiteró la invitación a toda la comunidad a visitar la novedosa feria de inglés.
Women in the Spotlight
Palin's speech -- and this year's intense focus on female voters
With the "18 million cracks" that Hillary Clinton put in the glass ceiling this year, and then the nomination of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as GOP vice president, the views of women voters have taken on particular importance. Last night, just before Palin's speech, NEWSWEEK 's Suzanne Smalley trolled the floor of the convention hall, asking women delegates what they expected— and wanted—to hear from Palin.
'I Want Her to Show How Strong She Is'
by Suzanne Smalley
Ellen Jernigan is proud of Sarah Palin because, as a Republican delegate and 69-year-old councilwoman in Hernando, Miss., she knows what it takes to run a city—even a small one—in addition to a household. Angelina Burney, a 39-year-old alternate delegate from Alaska, says Palin is an inspiration to all women because she proves "you can juggle career and family and do it with a deep faith." Kaye Kirk, 49, of Oklahoma City, said she was so moved by Palin's historic vice presidential nod that she and a friend traded letters recalling their deceased mothers and "how pleased women who have been trailblazers would be" to see the first woman on the Republican ticket.
For all the evident pride Republican delegates here in St. Paul feel about Palin's rise, many of them also said they wanted her to answer critics with a speech that delivered specifics about her experience and worldview. In a series of interviews NEWSWEEK conducted with female delegates on the floor of St. Paul's Xcel Center in the moments before Governor Palin took to the stage, several argued that Palin should use her moment in the spotlight to show the country that she is not just a woman, but also a qualified woman.
Deanna Wallace, an 18-year-old from Shreveport, La., wearing pins that said "I Heart Sarah Palin" and "From the Coldest State Comes the Hottest V.P.," said that while she is thrilled to have a woman on the ticket—especially one who hunts, fishes, and mothers, in addition to governing—it is important for Palin to establish her credentials. "It's not as important that she's a woman, but that she's her—she's living next door to her constituents," Wallace said. "She's run a city and state….I really want her to get up there and show how strong she is as a candidate, not necessarily as a woman."
Joyce Shirley, a 67-year-old delegate from Fritch, Texas, said she expected Palin to "have answers for everyone." Lilliana Belardo de O'Neal of the Virgin Islands said she wanted Palin to tell the audience how "she can run this country." And Donna Bahorich, a 52-year-old delegate from Houston, marveled at Palin's thrift, saying she admires her for selling the state's jet on eBay (one of the few details Palin's speech offered about her work as governor), but admitted she wants to know more about Palin's "worldview and philosophy." Bahorich shrugged off critics who say the media has been sexist in asking questions about Palin's resume. "It's a legitimate question—let's look at experience," Bahorich said. "I hope it's a big part of her speech tonight, all she has done in two years."
Ultimately, Palin's experience and the nuts and bolts of what she did as governor were conspicuously missing from her speech, which was heavier on snark than it was on substance. Nonetheless, the crowd on the floor of the Xcel Center last night was rapturous. Would undecided female voters agree with Angelina Burney, an alternate delegate from Alaska who works for Palin and thinks it's a good thing that she's "the real deal, a woman from the soil (and) as far from the establishment as you can get?" Or does Palin, whose history is more or less a blank slate, have a long way to go before women outside of the Republican Party flock to her? Palin is expected to start campaigning without McCain by her side next week. How independent and undecided female voters are receiving her will become a lot clearer in the coming eight weeks, once the teleprompter disappears and the tough and spontaneous questions start getting asked.
Chile Primero realizará Cursos de Ingles
Bajo el slogan “Democraticemos el Ingles” el nuevo referente Chile Primero en Arica anunció que abrirá cursos de ingles para que los ariqueños se pongan a tono con los nuevos tiempos.
Así lo anunció Vlado Mirosevic, vocero regional de CH1, quién declaró “sentimos como una obligación el hacer este tipo de cursos, ya que el ingles es un requisito básico para el mundo del trabajo del siglo XXI”. Además agregó que “todos los partidos políticos deberían estar en la misma, más en el caso nuestro que queremos ser un partido moderno”.
Los cursos tendrán una duración de 3 meses y se desarrollarán 3 veces por semanas en las oficinas de Chile Primero.
Los interesados pueden acercarse a las oficinas de Chile Primero ubicados en General Lagos #436 o inscribirse en el sitio web: http://www.vlado.cl
Nota de redacción: A solicitud de nuestra ciberlectora Ximena Palta, a partir de hoy miércoles 30 de abril 2008, iniciamos esta nueva sección de noticias en inglés.
Caracas, Colombia and Cocaine
As Colombia tightens the screws on the drug trade, Venezuela emerges as a regional hub
By Stephanie Hanson, Council on Foreign Relations Newsweek Web Exclusive
When Colombian drug traffickers need to move cocaine out of the country, their first stop is often Venezuela. Short flights connecting remote jungle air strips in northern Colombia with Venezuelan destinations just miles across the border tripled between 2003 and 2006, according to the International Crisis Group. Now over a third of Colombia's total cocaine output is thought to exit the country via Venezuela. U.S. counternarcotics efforts in the Andean region have focused on Plan Colombia, a multibillion dollar initiative to eradicate crops and cripple drug cartels. But the rise in trafficking through Venezuela threatens to derail what progress has been achieved in Colombia and calls into question the efficacy of U.S. counternarcotics policy in the region.
Unlike Colombia, Venezuela refuses to cooperate with the United States to combat narcotics trafficking. The country's attorney general admits the National Guard and the intelligence service both have ties to drug traffickers, along with civilian airport employees. The border area, which Colombian officials have trouble monitoring due to its difficult terrain, is a "breeding ground for crime and violence," according to an International Crisis Group report on drug trafficking in Latin America. The U.S. State Department blames Venezuela for not doing its part to fight corruption and trafficking in the region. Caracas suspended cooperation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in 2005. Since then, drug seizures have dropped from thirty-five to forty metric tons in 2005 to between twenty and twenty-five metric tons in 2006, according to the 2008 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report. "We remain open to working with Venezuela on this issue," said David T. Johnson, assistant secretary for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs, in February 2008. "But we have thus far not had a willing partner."
RADAR STATIONS
Venezuela counters that it is making ample effort to control the drugs trade burgeoning within its borders. It destroyed over one hundred air strips near the Colombian border this year, and is installing radar stations that will allow Venezuelan authorities to track unauthorized flights from Colombia. Experts say these efforts are designed to counter U.S. accusations, but also address domestic concerns about growing crime rates. According to Venezuela's El Universal, there were 710 murders in Caracas in the first three months of 2008, compared to 621 during the same period last year. The Venezuelan government stopped releasing official homicide rates in 2003, but security website Stratfor suggests Caracas is among the most dangerous cities in the world, with a homicide rate more than double that of Detroit. Experts say much of this violence is drug related. The Venezuela-Colombia border, meanwhile, is a haven for guerrilla groups such as FARC and the ELN.
Alleged ties between the Venezuelan government and the FARC have further heightened U.S. concerns. The Colombian government claims it has evidence, obtained from the laptop of a FARC rebel killed in Ecuador, that Venezuela offered financial support to guerrilla group. The German magazine Spiegel reports that Caracas apparently promised FARC arms as well as a stake in Venezuela's oil industry. As a Washington Post editorial notes, if these allegations prove to be true, the U.S. State Department will have more than enough evidence to add Venezuela to a list of state sponsors of terrorism. Such a designation would trigger automatic sanctions and could affect U.S. imports of Venezuelan oil.
