Sexual groping, office strip shows and other forms of sexual discrimination in the dealing room are back in the news, with leading Wall Street investment bank Morgan Stanley in the dock yesterday.In the first such suit brought to trial by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Morgan Stanley is accused of discriminating against women employees on salary and promotion and allowing women to be subjected to groping, slaps on the buttocks and a range of unacceptable office antics, including striptease shows and breast shaped birthday cakes. The case is on behalf of more than 300 women who worked in the firm's institutional equities division since 1995. The firm denies wrongdoing and says it is committed to providing a bias-free workplace. As one of the US's largest securities firms, Morgan Stanley could face tens of millions of dollars in damages if found liable, according to a Reuters report.Discrimination lawyers say the suit shows the securities industry, despite a flood of negative publicity, still lags in the field of gender equality. "Wall Street still believes that women are inferior, that men are better, more competent ... more interested in advancing their careers," said one lawyer. "They have made strides, but there is still an enormous amount of work to be done."