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Bosses at one of Britain's biggest banks reigned over an "institutionally sexist environment", according to a Muslim woman suing the firm and two senior managers for £16.7m for sexual, religious and racial harassment.
Mona Awad, a married 29-year-old corporate manager, told an employment tribunal in Nottingham today that Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) failed to protect her from the "unlawful" behaviour of two of her bosses, who cannot be named for legal reasons.
She claimed that both men falsely *accused her of having sex with a client, and that one suggested to another *colleague that he would stop humiliating her if she had sex with him. The other man allegedly said her fasting during Ramadan was "ridiculous".
The two men "operated an institutionally sexist environment in which directors knew about the conduct but did nothing or felt unable to challenge the unlawful behaviour", said Awad. The bank "failed to provide a safe working environment".
She said one of the men, Mr X, was a well-known bully, and a female colleague had complained that there was an "endemic" sexist culture at the bank.
She said: "Everyone knew what [Mr X] was like but no one would challenge his behaviour. We were all afraid of him and I was terrified of him."
When she broke down in tears in front of a senior HBOS director as a result of Mr X's "psychological bullying" he seemed unsurprised, she told the tribunal at a pre-hearing review.
"[The senior director] admitted he knew what [Mr X] was like," said Awad.
She claimed another director said: "You know what he is like. It is just how he is. You can't do anything about it."
She told the tribunal that Mr X was "known to be politically incorrect". She said he once asked a black colleague whether he was going to Africa to see "his best mate Mugabe".
Awad told the tribunal that Mr X conducted "torture sessions" every Friday. These sessions, she said, were "where Mr X would take great joy in humiliating me".
She claimed the other man, Mr Y, slapped one of her female colleagues on the bottom at a trip to the races.
Awad cried at the tribunal as she told of the effect the bullying had had on her health. "I was having nightmares at night and I felt scared and nauseous," she said. "The repeated acts of harassment destroyed my self esteem and confidence."
Her husband, Sherif Awad, was at the hearing today to support her. She left her £40,000 job at HBOS in October last year and now works as a financial consultant for another company.
The two accused men, who have left HBOS since Awad took her claim to tribunal in August last year, deny all the claims against them. They claimed today that the tribunal had no jurisdiction to hear the claims as they were made more than three months after the incidents are alleged to have taken place.
The high compensation figure sought is in recognition of loss of earnings, injury to feelings, aggravated damages and punitive damages. A full tribunal hearing will take place later in the year.
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