The recent £2.1 million ($2.8 million) award to a female banker in compensation for sex discrimination is notable for more than its size. The judgment handed down to her employer, BNP Paribas SA, was excoriating — and should serve as a warning to the entire finance industry.
A London employment tribunal found in 2019 that the French lender discriminated against Stacey Macken by underpaying her as much as £40,000 in annual salary relative to a male peer at a comparable level since 2013. BNP also discriminated when setting her bonuses. The case is best known for revealing that Macken once arrived at the office to find a witch’s hat on her desk, likely to have been put there by male colleagues who had been out drinking the night before.
Last month brought details of the necessary financial recompense (the long lag due to the disruption of the pandemic and the sheer volume of evidence.) The award primarily comprised compensation to make good on Macken’s past earnings shortfall and harm to her career. But the total was even higher than it might have been due to the severity of the discrimination and, above all, BNP’s failure to respond to Macken’s concerns properly.