KEY POINTS:
A London City trader who claimed a sexist work culture forced her to quit her job after she returned from maternity leave lost her £1.35 million ($3.5 million) compensation claim.
Katharina Tofeji, 38, alleged the investment bank BNP Paribas refused to grant her a four-day working week after she had a baby.
Tofeji, from Brentwood, Essex, who worked in the foreign exchange unit, claimed she experienced "unfair treatment" in a "sexist culture" immediately after announcing she was pregnant in November 2004.
She quit her job, where she had worked since 2000, claiming sexual discrimination, unfair dismissal and breaches of maternity and flexible working conditions.
During the trial Tofeji said she had suffered "a kind of breakdown" since resigning from her job in June last year, three weeks after she returned from a year's maternity and sick leave.
She said that a colleague told her on her first day back after maternity leave that he had placed a bet on how long she would last before giving up.
The tribunal also heard that she was told to use her female charms to woo clients over candlelit dinners and was asked by her manager to do the washing-up at a business meal.
Tofeji earned a £70,000 salary in 2005, and was expecting a bonus of the same amount.
But an employment tribunal in central London dismissed her claims, ruling that she was not wrongfully dismissed and was not treated less favourably than her male colleagues.
The tribunal ruled that BNP Paribas "did not breach requirements ... by allegedly failing to allow the claimant to return to the job in which she was employed before her absence on maternity leave or to another suitable and appropriate job".
The tribunal rejected all of her claims, saying: "The unanimous judgment of the tribunal is that the claimant's claims fail and are dismissed."
Tofeji, who is Austrian, joined the bank in Vienna in 1999, moving to London in October 2000.
She said: "I am very disappointed with the judgment. This has been a very difficult time for me. I would like to say thank you to all those people who have sent messages of support throughout this time."
Her lawyers said they were reviewing the decision.
Samantha Mangwana, her solicitor, said: "This judgment is a missed opportunity to deal with the widespread sex discrimination in the City that still persists.
"We will be reviewing the decision in order to determine whether we will be appealing, particularly considering that very strong evidence was presented in the case."
The bank said in a statement: "BNP Paribas is pleased that all claims against it brought by former employee, Ms Tofeji, have been unsuccessful. BNP Paribas and its current and former employees have been totally vindicated and the allegations made have been found to be unsubstantiated.
"The tribunal has unanimously dismissed Ms Tofeji's claims for direct and indirect discrimination and victimisation, failure to agree to her requests for flexible working, failure to allow her to return to her original job after maternity leave, and unfair dismissal."
- Independent
