Barclays ordered to pay ex-banker $63,000 over working hours, sex discrimination

Barclays BARC.L has been ordered to pay a former banker with endometriosis and anxiety almost 50,000 pounds ($63,500) for failing to adjust her working hours and for sex discrimination, a London tribunal has ruled. The East London Employment T

By: cyprus-mail.com

Nov 14 2024
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Barclays ordered to pay ex-ban

The East London Employment Tribunal told the bank to pay Anca Lacatus damages for personal injury and injury to her feelings. But it dismissed her damages claims for loss of past and future earnings and the cost of medical treatment and care.

Barclays declined to comment and a lawyer for Lacatus did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Lacatus, an analyst from 2016 to 2020, had claimed damages of around 4 million pounds after partially winning an employment case in 2021 in which she argued that her line manager used sexist language and that she had to work 40-48 hours per week on average while suffering from endometriosis.

In a judgment made public on Thursday, the tribunal said there was no dispute about the “tragic circumstances” faced by Lacatus, who now lives in Romania with her parents but cannot afford medical treatment and is unable to work.

But it did not award damages for loss of earnings, because it ruled there was a “100% chance” that she would have faced the same mental and physical health prognosis without the bank’s unlawful conduct.

“It follows that Barclays ought not be ordered to (pay) compensation for any pain suffering or loss of amenity after that point,” it added in a judgment dated Oct. 29.

Although she also lost her claim for unfair dismissal or breach of contract in 2021, her success in the sexist element of her case – which centred on her line manager using the term “birds” to refer to female employees – was seen as a victory for women battling “banter” in London’s financial district.

She was awarded 1,527 pounds for sex discrimination, including interest.