Sixteen women have filed a lawsuit against the FBI alleging that the federal law enforcement agency discriminates against women. The women, who were all training to be special agents, described the FBI training academy in Quantico, Virginia as a "Good Old Boy Network" where male instructors gave preferential treatment to their male colleagues.

"Training Division staff, including instructors, supervisors, field counselors, managers, and review board members, frequently dismiss mistakes made by male trainees as isolated incidents, determine male trainees to be retrainable, and retain them at the Academy at a disproportionately higher rate than their female trainee counterparts," the lawsuit states.

The women estimate that around 80 percent of trainees who were dismissed prior to graduation were female. They also claim that over 100 women were victimized and are trying to make their suit into a class action lawsuit.

"It became very clear that there were people that they considered that needed to be watched, and that group would have majority females," Paula Bird, who still works at the FBI, told NBC News. "You're in the group that, 'You don't know what you're doing, you're not very good, and we're going to watch every move you make because we're expecting you to fail.'"

The lawsuit asks the agency to pay $300,000 to each of the women for emotional stress, and also to hire more female instructors and review its training process.

The FBI issued a brief statement regarding the lawsuit.

"While we are unable to comment on litigation, the FBI is committed to fostering a work environment where all of our employees are valued and respected. Diversity is one of our core values, and to effectively accomplish our mission of protecting the American people we need people of different genders, backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives."