The 'Witch Hat' case: City banker is awarded £2,000,000 by the Employment Tribunal for unequal pay and sexual discrimination in the workplace.
City banker, Stacey Macken, has been awarded a £2,081,449 pay-out by the Employment Tribunal in compensation for sexual discrimination she has experienced in her workplace.
Stacey Macken is an experienced banker who previously worked as a vice president at Deutsche Bank before being subsequently hired by BNP Paribas in 2013. Ms Macken had dedicated her whole life to her 22-year career and prioritised it over choosing to get married and having children. Despite Ms Macken's sheer commitment to her career and level of experience, Ms Macken was subject to unfair treatment and over a period of four years she received hundreds of thousands of pounds less than her male peers in both salary and bonuses. Ms Macken, the experienced finance specialist received a salary of £120,000 per year, whilst her male peer with the same job title and duties was receiving a salary of £160,000 – an unacceptable £40,000 more than Ms Macken for the same role. The Employment Tribunal also heard that the male peer was paid a further £167,000 more than Ms Macken in bonuses over four years, to which she only received £33,000.
According to Ms Macken, she also endured countless acts of belittlement by her own boss who on numerous occasions would keep telling her "not now, Stacey" whenever she would ask him a question. This demeaning response was made so often by Ms Macken's boss, that her colleagues would make sarcastic remarks about it, to the point where it was made a running joke among the colleagues.
A particular upsetting incident which occurred in October 2013 was told to the tribunal by Georgina Chapman, who was the former PA of one of Ms Macken's bosses, Matthew Pinnock. Chapman told the tribunal: "In October 2013, a large Halloween-style black witch's hat was left on Stacey Macken's desk after some of the prime brokerage team, including Matthew Pinnock, had gone drinking at the pub towards the end of the day". Chapman explained to the tribunal how this made Ms Macken visibly upset and that she confided in her that she felt uncomfortable working alongside those who would purposefully go out of their way to perform such a sexist act towards her.
Ms Macken issued proceedings in the Employment Tribunal and was successful in her claims of sex discrimination, victimisation, and unequal pay. The £2,081,449 payment that Ms Macken is due to receive includes £51,400 for her pain and suffering, £35,000 for injury to feelings and £15,000 in aggravated damages.
The tribunal and employment judge, Emma Burns, condemned the actions of Ms Macken's bosses for acting 'spitefully and vindictively' and ruled the leaving of a witch's hat on her desk as an "inherently sexist act". The Employment Tribunal also increased Ms Macken's compensation due to the bank failing to apologise to her, which the tribunal was displeased with and believed Ms Macken was duly owed.
BNP Paribas has now claimed it has adopted a 'detailed gender strategy and gender action plan' to answer for its poor gender pay gap and is attempting to 'increase the number of women at senior management level' as a response to this unfortunate ordeal that Ms Macken experienced.
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