A gay executive dismissed for allegedly ogling a male colleague will this week accuse Britain's biggest bank of sacking him because of his sexuality.
Peter Lewis, who was earning £1 million (US$1.75 million) a year as a trader, will reignite the debate over discrimination in the Square Mile -- as the City, London's financial district is known -- by claiming HSBC fired him unfairly after an incident in the gym at the firm's headquarters. He is seeking £5 million in damages.
HSBC launched an investigation after a colleague complained that Lewis had looked at him while they were in the Fifth Dimension gym in November 2004. The bank decided that the disputed glance constituted sexual harassment and sacked Lewis, the global head of equities trading in HSBC's corporate and investment bank division.
At an employment tribunal hearing this week into his dismissal Lewis, 45, will argue that he is the victim of prejudice by HSBC and that they would not have treated a straight man the same way. He has brought his lawsuit under revised employment rules which say that gay and lesbian staff are entitled to the same freedom from discrimination as people who may suffer because of gender or race.
Lewis will claim that he was discriminated against because he is gay on 16 separate occasions when he received less favorable treatment than that which a heterosexual counterpart would have been afforded.
A succession of women have taken legal action against various banks for alleged sexism, accusing them of paying them less than male colleagues and mistreating them because of their gender through, for example, offensive remarks, a macho work environment and the hiring of prostitutes. Last year Sid Saeed, a vice-president of Deutsche Bank's global exchanges services division, claimed he had suffered racist and homophobic taunts, including "gay boy" and "fucking fag."
But his lawsuit against his former employer is understood to have been settled before a hearing.
HSBC maintains it was right to sack Lewis and pledged to "vigorously defend" itself against Lewis' claims.
"As a responsible employer, HSBC has a duty to protect all its staff against sexual harassment, whatever their gender. In the case to which you refer an employee was dismissed for gross personal misconduct following a complaint of sexual harassment by another member of staff," spokesman Pierre Goad said. "We believe in doing what is right and not what is expedient and our sexual harassment policy applies to all staff."
HSBC alleges that, when Lewis was questioned by the alleged victim, he gave a false name. He was later suspended, investigated and sacked.
Gay campaigners say that, if HSBC loses, it could lose out financially because of the increasing competition between banks to woo gay customers, and even face a boycott from angry homosexuals.
Ben Summerskill, chief executive of the gay-rights group Stonewall, said: "It will be a high-profile case because of the large sums of money involved ... If Peter Lewis is successful, inevitably there will be employers across the country that start taking the treatment of their lesbian and gay staff more seriously."
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