Insurance giant ACE Group?s Bermudian communications chief is at the centre of a sex discrimination lawsuit in the US after allegedly branding one of the firm?s subsidiaries ?a boys? club where women aren?t allowed in?.

And one sacked worker of ACE American Insurance, based in Philadelphia, is now taking legal action against the company, claiming that she was the victim of sexual discrimination.

Court documents obtained by last night reveal that the company?s former Assistant Vice President of Communications, Lisa Hicks, was discouraged from applying for a promotion because of her gender.

The court documents state the alleged incident took place in late 2001 after Ms Hicks learned that her boss, who was male, was about to be dismissed.

When she expressed an interest in the job, ACE Ltd. Global Communications head Wendy Davis Johnson is reported to have said that she should not apply for the position since the senior management team was ? a boys club? and ?women aren?t allowed in?.

Despite the remark Ms Hicks submitted an application for the position of Senior Vice President of Communications.

The court papers state that: ?She applied because she was qualified for the position and believed she should be afforded a fair opportunity to be considered for the job.?

A department colleague, Kevin McArdle, was subsequently appointed to the position and the filing states that: ?Following his appointment, Mr. McArdle threatened Ms Hicks, discredited her to her peers and clients and criticised her for applying for the position.?

The filing goes on to say that Mr. McArdle later resigned and the company replaced him with John Herbskerman an applicant from outside the organisation, alleging it was ?not because Mr. Herbskerman was the most qualified person for the job; quite the contrary, it did so because he is a man and in order to discriminate against Ms Hicks, a qualified female applicant for the job?.

Ms Hicks claims in the suit that Mr Herbskerman subsequently fired her three months after his appointment ?without notice or warning, and in contravention of ACE?s progressive disciplinary policy, because he said she was not the calibre of person ACE wanted as a Vice President?.

Ms Hicks is claiming she was fired because she is female, and that she was forced to sell the home she shared with her family in order to relocate from New Jersey to South Carolina in order to find suitable work. She is seeking substantial compensation to cover lost remuneration, including earnings, stock options and pension credits. ACE American Insurance Company, ACE INA Holdings Inc., both of Philadelphia, and ACE Limited of Bermuda are all listed as defendants in the case.

The Bermuda office of ACE Ltd. had not returned calls for comment by press time last night.