A Manhattan financial management firm that reportedly caters to powerful women like Rihanna and Kelly Ripa is being accused of being a sexist and racist frat house where executives made lewd comments about female employees and once said Rih is “hot” because she’s “not too dark,” new court papers state.
According to the Manhattan federal court lawsuit, Flynn Family Office partner Alan Kufeld regularly made obscene comments and once described his hopes that a new intern had a body like her mom, who he said “is banging the drummer from [heavy metal band] Skid Row.”
Kufeld, 47, also talked with FFO founder and CEO Rick Flynn about how sexy various former assistants had been, noting that one assistant “lost points in his eyes because she was too dark,” the suit states.
“It was a locker-room mentality,” said ex-FFO marketing head Robert Solomon, 42, who claims he was fired after a year for objecting to the sexist banter.
Kufeld would regularly comment on how hot FFO’s female clients in the entertainment sector were, making the “not too dark” comment about Rihanna before giving a “monologue on what Caribbean nationalities were the most attractive based on skin tone” and discussing “sex tourism and the relative hotness of Asian women,” the suit states.
Flynn also talked dirty in the office, mentioning a female worker’s “ass of steel,” then saying, “F–k her” after the woman quit a few weeks later, according to the suit.
“It’s ironic and disturbing that an organization that sought high-profile women as clients would have such a sexist and misogynistic corporate culture,” said Solomon’s lawyer, Walker Harman, adding that other FFO clients include designer Tory Burch and actresses Katie Holmes and Ellen Barkin.
Solomon’s wrongful-termination lawsuit also claims he was mocked for being middle-aged.
Flynn responded to the charges by defending his company.
“We at FFO have always championed the rights of women and minorities, particularly in the workplace,” he said. “The complaint filed today is without merit, and we intend to defend vigorously against these baseless claims.”
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