Female banker sues firm for £4,000,000 over sexist abuse

Drunk male colleagues left a witch's hat on her desk and demeaned her by constantly telling her 'not now Stacey'.

A woman who found a witch’s hat had been left on her desk by drunk male colleagues has won her claim for sexual discrimination.

Stacey Macken, from Fulham, sued French bank BNP Paribas for £4 million after being belittled by her boss who kept telling her ‘not now, Stacey’ – a phrase he used so often that colleagues even copied it.

The former vice-president at Deutsche Bank was hired in 2013 on a £120,000 a year salary, but discovered a male recruit hired with the same job title and responsibilities was being paid £160,000.

She claimed that over a four-year period she received hundreds of thousands of pounds less than her male peers in salary and bonuses and was targeted after complaining about unfair treatment.

The tribunal heard that on one occasion her drunk male colleagues returned to the office to leave a witch’s hat on her desk, leaving Ms Macken ‘visibly upset’ and feeling ‘uncomfortable’

She claimed she was exposed to sexist behaviour involving one of her bosses in the Prime Brokerage team, Matt Pinnock, within months of joining.

The tribunal was told he answered the phone to friends with the words ‘hi, f*ckface’ and ‘hi, sexy’ and on one occasion told her that a friend and his wife had engaged in ‘prostitution’ role play.

Another boss, Denis Pihan, was accused of routinely demeaning her by replying ‘not now, Stacey’ when she tried to talk to him – a phrase which was then used sarcastically by other colleagues.

Miss Mackey, who is in her 40s, made repeated internal complaints about her treatment, in particular relating to her pay and bonuses.

She finally took the bank, based in London, to a tribunal in April this year, claiming more than £4 million in compensation and back pay.

The tribunal heard that in her first four years her male peer was paid more than £167,000 in bonuses compared to the £33,000 she received.

The bank claimed they had hired her as a ‘junior’ and that her male colleague deserved his higher salary because he was her senior.

However, on Tuesday the tribunal ruled in her favour relating to claims of unequal pay, sex discrimination and victimisation.

The judgement said she was treated differently because she was a woman.

It read: ‘Leaving a witch’s hat on a female employees desk, in a predominantly male working environment, was an inherently sexist act that potentially reflects on the nature of working environment for the Claimant and the approach that was taken to women’.

Her claims of harassment were dismissed.

The size of award Miss Mackey will receive has yet to be determined.