Wife of British Olympic athlete and NFL star 'suffered sexist and racist abuse' at Wolf of Wall Street-style firm

Brit Philippa Okoye was apparently told "he's probably  f***ed the whole cheerleading squad by now" about her engagement to NFL player Lawrence Okoye

'Racism': Lawrence Okoye's wife has launched a lawsuit against her former employer

An athlete's wife has spoken out about the real-life 'Wolf of Wall Street' office where she was allegedly sexually-harassed and bullied for her interracial relationship.
British citizen Philippa Okoye, 27, claims her boss would sneer at her, saying about her Olympic athlete and NFL player husband: "He’s probably f***ed the whole cheerleading squad by now."
Philippa has been married to British Olympic athlete and San Francisco 49er defensive tackle Lawrence Okoye, who is black, for almost a year.
According to her lawsuit against deVere Group office at Manhattan Federal Court, colleagues would say to her: "I think it’s disgusting when white women go out with black guys."
Another co-worker also allegedly told Philippa, who worked at the company as a senior investment advisor: "Don’t change your surname if you marry Lawrence, because people will think you’re black."

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'Disgusting': Lawrence's wife's employers were apparently racist about their relationship

Philippa, who was engaged to Croydon-born Lawrence at the time of the alleged harassment, alleges her boss, CEO Benjamin Alderson, was one of the main perpetrators and “made it known that he wanted to model the office on the ‘Boiler Room’ and ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ films".
According to her lawsuit, Philippa wrote that the office was out-of-control, saying: “In those films, employees of male-dominated investment firms used highly offensive language and engaged in extremely inappropriate conduct, including sexual harassment and drug and alcohol use in the workplace.”
When racist comments were made about her relationship with Lawrence, 23, Philippa claims that her boss said: “Yeah, and that’s not good for business."
Alderson is also alleged to have made several insulting and racist comments as well as asking: “How many times has big Lawrence cheated on you?”
Philippa claims that, as the only female in the office surrounded by 21 male employees, other women would be rated on whether they were "worth f***ing" when they visited the company.
Alderson apparently said to her: “So can you handle the banter or are you going to be a woman about it and be sensitive?’’
She said that when she complained to him, he sniped: “This is why I didn’t want women in the office.’’
Philippa is now suing for damages after claiming she was demoted and then fired.
Her lawyer Kenneth Katz said: “While the suit can’t repair the emotional distress our client had and continues to experience, the employer must be held accountable for their unlawful actions."
Alderson apparently mocked Philippa for her Christian faith, calling her a “Bible basher” and singing hymns when he walked by her desk.



She said employees regularly talked about sex, strippers, prostitutes and drugs.

In February of last year she was ordered to move to California to work remotely and was soon fired for what her boss called performance reasons, according to court papers.
Philippa claims she was unlawfully terminated because she complained of being sexually harassed. The ordeal caused her severe anxiety because her work visa was in jeopardy, she claims.
She seeks damages to be determined at trial.
A deVere spokesman branded the accusations as "false and incredulous".
"They are vigorously and categorically denied," deVere spokesman George Prior said.
"We are shocked and dismayed that a legitimate employment termination has sparked such a malicious response.
“Unfortunately, we are very limited about what we can say about this as it’s subject to legal proceedings, but we pledge to clear the names of those wrongly accused and look forward to doing so in court.”
Lawrence signed a professional contract with the San Francisco 49ers just months after representing Team GB in the discus at the London 2012 Olympics.
He boasts the British discus record and the longest throw ever by a teenager