Six women employees including a non-resident Indian are suing their company, investment banking major Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, for sexual discrimination to the extent of £800 million.

Jyoti Ruta and her five colleagues, who are from the London and New York offices of DKW, the German banking giant, have filed the claim in a New York court, claiming they were treated as second-class citizens in the institution despite their qualifications and years of service and experience.

Ruta, a DKW capital markets director based in New York who has worked for the company since 1994, claimed that when a group of colleagues went out for a business dinner to celebrate the success of a deal, she was put under pressure to leave the meal so that the others (all male) could take the clients to a strip club.

Another of the group, Katherine Smith, from the London office, claimed that her male colleagues referred to her as the "Pamela Anderson of trading," a reference to the American blonde actress who is known for her silicon breast implants.

Ruta said in a statement: "We are confident that we will prevail in this litigation and ultimately show the rest of the financial community that you cannot continue to discriminate against women without paying the price."