LONDON, Oct 25 (Reuters) – A former Barclays (BARC.L) banker has raised a declare for damages in opposition to the financial institution over sexism and a failure to regulate her working hours to about 4 million kilos ($4.6 million) from 560,000 kilos, a court docket doc seen by Reuters on Tuesday confirmed.
Anca Lacatus, an analyst within the charges choices structured buying and selling division from 2016 to 2020, received an employment lawsuit in opposition to the financial institution final 12 months wherein she argued her line supervisor used sexist language and that she needed to work 40-48 hours per week on common whereas affected by progressive endometriosis.
Though she misplaced her declare for unfair dismissal or breach of contract in September 2021, her success within the sexist ingredient of her declare – which centred on her line supervisor utilizing the time period “birds” to discuss with feminine workers – was seen as a victory for ladies battling “banter” in London’s monetary centre.
Lacatus is now claiming compensation for the illegal conduct she succeeded on within the lawsuit in additional hearings on the East London Employment Tribunal.
She alleges that Barclays’ failure to supply her with time and respite impaired her means to perform and prevented her from being higher in a position to search medical assist.
“The claimant … submits there is no such thing as a different motive she didn’t additional pursue her well being issues aside from the exhaustion and impaired means to perform attributable to the surplus hours she labored,” a court docket doc laying out her submissions confirmed.
Barclays has accepted that Lacatus is entitled to compensation after Employment Decide John Crosfill dominated that utilizing the time period “birds” for ladies was “plainly sexist” and that the financial institution ought to have made cheap changes to her working hours.
However Barclays alleged that her try at “gratuitous inflation” of her declare was opportunistic, could be expensive and time-consuming to discover in court docket and would haven’t any cheap prospect of success, a Barclays’ court docket submitting confirmed.
The financial institution denies she was unable to hunt sufficient medical therapy earlier due to her work.
Jamie Susskind, a lawyer representing Barclays, advised a listening to on Tuesday on the East London Employment Tribunal that the financial institution couldn’t have been extra accommodating when she wanted day off for medical appointments.
($1 = 0.8718 kilos)
Reporting by Kirstin Ridley. Modifying by Jane Merriman
: .