(Bloomberg) -- Barclays Plc must pay £49,728 ($62,978) to a former analyst who won her case over workplace treatment and sex discrimination after an employment tribunal ruled the bank’s actions were “thoughtless.”
Anca Lacatus, who worked as an analyst at the lender, won the award, most of which is for the personal injury and the bank’s failure to adapt to her illness. She had initially sought £1.3 million in damages while the bank argued the case was worth £16,000.
London judges said that her mental and physical health would’ve been the same without any unlawful conduct and declined to award damages for loss of past and future earnings.
“Barclays actions were thoughtless” and the claimant was let down for over a year, Judge John Crosfill said in the ruling made public this week. “We have not awarded the claimant much of what she sought. We must make findings and apply the law. That does not mean that we do not have the greatest sympathy for the claimant.”
A spokesperson for Barclays declined to comment. Lawyers for Lacatus didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Lacatus’ suit alleged that her manager had used the word “birds” to refer to women which was “plainly sexist.” Barclays also failed to reduce her excessive working hours despite her asking for a reduction due to suffering from debilitating symptoms of endometriosis.
The tribunal agreed and ruled she’d been the victim of direct sex discrimination and the bank had failed to adjust her working hours despite the illness. She was awarded around £1,500 plus interest for the discrimination claim for “injury to feelings.”
The unlawful treatment by Barclays worsened her physical and mental health “to a point where she had lost all hope of renewing her career in financial services,” the judge said.
Lacatus began working at Barclays’ rates options structured trading middle office department in 2016 until her dismissal in 2020. Her job was made redundant in 2019 while she was on sick leave.
“We are not as pessimistic as the claimant was about her future prospects,” the judge said in the ruling. “We would hope that one day soon the Claimant will be able to resume a career that she worked so hard to forge.”
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