April 19 (Reuters) - Wells Fargo ( WFC ) was accused of

sex discrimination in a lawsuit by a bond saleswoman who said

the fourth-largest U.S. bank denied pay and promotions available

to men and tolerated an "unapologetically sexist" workplace.

The complaint filed on Friday in federal court in Chicago by

Michal Leavitt is the latest in a long line of lawsuits accusing

big U.S. banks of bias against women.

Leavitt said Wells Fargo's ( WFC ) practice of steering larger

accounts toward men in its financial institutions group cost her

up to one-third of her potential pay, and forced her to wait

nine years for a promotion to director from vice president.

She said she expressed frustration at missing out on large

accounts, but was told her mostly male group thought of her as a

mere "second income" for her husband.

Leavitt also said male managers routinely had inappropriate

sexual relations with female subordinates, and men often made

degrading jokes about women, including over their appearances

and how their wives were only "spending their husbands' money."

"The financial institutions group is a self-acknowledged

'boys club' where locker room talk on the sales floor is de

rigueur," creating an "unapologetically sexist working

environment," Leavitt said.

Wells Fargo ( WFC ) had no immediate comment.

Leavitt joined the San Francisco-based bank in 2013 from

Bear Stearns. The Illinois resident is seeking unspecified

damages and changes in how Wells Fargo ( WFC ) assigns accounts.

Last November, Citigroup ( C/PN ) was sued by managing director

Ardith Lindsey, who said the third-largest U.S. bank tolerated a

"notoriously hostile" work culture where a former top equities

banker subjected her to sexual harassment and death threats.

And last May, Goldman Sachs ( GS ) agreed to pay $215

million to settle a class action alleging widespread bias

against women in pay and promotions.

Wells Fargo ( WFC ) has separately spent years trying to rebound

from a series of scandals for mistreating customers.

These scandals led to billions of dollars in fines, the

toppling of two chief executives, and a still-existing Federal

Reserve cap on assets that limits the bank's growth.

The case is Leavitt v Wells Fargo Securities LLC, U.S.

District Court, Northern District of Illinois, No. 24-03140.