No doubt the recession has been particularly brutal to men. As the Wall Street Journal reports, the last year and a half oversaw an 8.2% decline in male employment, compared to a 3.9% decline for women. But while women make up an increasing share of the workforce, some companies remain less-than-congenial environments, employing few women at the top. Which companies are the worst? Douglas McIntyre explores this question in his ranking of the "10 Worst Places For Women to Work" at 24/7 Wall St. He creates a simple rule:

Any company on the list would have to: 1) completely lack sensitivity to the issues of women in the work place, or 2) have enough misgivings about women to insure that all the people who have any meaningful place in running their companies have to be men. It is hard to say whether these companies are "female-free" at the top tiers because of misogyny or dull-wittedness.

McIntyre argues that it's fair to assume that a company without any high-ranking women is probably also indifferent to disparities in pay. He delivers brusque chops to each of his top offenders--tobacco giant Philip Morris, holding company Icahn Enterprises, and Virgin Media. His take on Philip Morris:

No wonder they call him the Marlboro Man. Nine board members, zero women.

See the full list here. Are these companies really the worst?

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