A Romanian accountant employed by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has alleged she was the victim of racist bullying by the firm and, as a result, was overlooked for promotion.

According to reports in The Daily Telegraph, Mihaela Popa, who earned a salary of £41,000, claims she was made to feel ‘like a prostitute' because she was from Eastern Europe.

Popa is claiming £40 million in compensation for loss or earnings and illness due to severe depression because of her ‘progressively unbearable' treatment. She has already taken the firm to tribunal twice and lost.

Speaking to HR magazine, a spokesman from PwC, said: "We successfully defended claims at the employment tribunal in November 2007 and the employment appeals tribunal in 2008. There is nothing new in these claims, they have no merit and we will be vigorously denying [them]."