News: Contract Law
Discrimination training highlighted by HBOS case
05 January 2009
The importance of equal opportunities training has been highlighted by an ex-manager at HBOS who is suing the firm and two senior bosses for sex, race and religious discrimination.
Mona Awad is seeking £16.7 million in damages from the bank and will tell an employment tribunal that she was mocked for fasting during Ramadan, with one of the defendant's describing the practice as "ridiculous".
In addition, she was asked in front of her peers whether she was engaged in a sexual relationship with one of her customers' employees and asked if she could "handle two men".
Ms Awad claims: "It was a sexist culture in which staff were afraid to speak out."
Describing an earlier investigation by the bank into the former directors, in which a number of her complaints were upheld, she says: "It is just a boy's club. Neither director was sacked. I pity any woman that they work with in the future."
Bella Gore, head of legal policy at the Employers' Forum on Disability, recently told the Independent management training focusing on meetings can help compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act.
