CURVE APPEAL AT AIG

BANZAI7 NEWS--American International Group Inc.’s derivatives unit, which brought the firm to the brink of failure with bets on subprime mortgages, was sued by two ex-vice presidents who said a “boys club” culture discriminated against older women.

One of the women alleged that Joseph Cassano, the genius who ran AIG Financial Products, said he prefers to drink beer with young shapely workers with “curb appeal,” not those who look like his aunt Bea and refused to trade baseball cards with them.

A managing director appointed to handle sexual harassment complaints said AIG should replace some staff with young and attractive workers to entertain Goldman Sachs guests and visiting dignitaries from Greece, according to the complaint filed Feb. 22 in federal court in New Haven, Connecticut.

NOTE: Curb appeal is attractiveness of the exterior of a residential or commercial property. The term was extensively used in the United States during the housing boom and continues to be used as an indicator of the initial appeal of a property to prospective buyers.