Alexis was fired for 'acting like a man'. Now her ex-employers are paying for it.

A US executive has been awarded $40 million in compensation after she successfully sued her former employer for sexual discrimination.

In February 2016 Alexis Berger had received praise and a bonus for her role in making Kargo, the advertising company she worked for, millions of dollars in profits.

So she was a little surprised to be put on a “Performance Improvement Plan” after the HR department received complaints of her “unprofessional” behaviour, Adweek reports.

According to court documents, Berger was accused of being “too emotional”, “oversensitive”, “harsh”, and “a bully”. At the same time, she was also alleged to have used “profane, inappropriately suggestive, and politically incorrect, offensive language”.

In other words, according to Berger, she acted no worse than any of her male colleagues.

The former senior vice president of sales claimed that there was a double standard and that the aggressive behaviour she displayed was a positive for her male colleagues, but not for her.

Berger, who is a lesbian, also claimed one of her male colleagues would comment on her sexuality, and once suggested a threesome with Berger and her partner, Adweek reports. Her complaints against him were ignored.

Listen: Miki Agrawal calls herself a She-E-O.

The judge in the case, Billie Colombaro, agreed with Berger that sexual discrimination was “a motivating factor” in her sacking.

In fact, Judge Colombaro described the company’s treatment of Berger as “a collaborative orchestration carried out in a malicious, insidious, and humiliating manner, having the effect of depriving her of her earned commissions, her retention bonus, her stock options, her position, her livelihood, and her dignity”.

She awarded Berger be paid $40,925,284.20 in compensation.

In a statement, a Kargo spokesperson told Adweek the company planned to appeal against the decision.

Have you ever been the victim of a double standard?