PR Week carried a feature last month on the dangers to employers of letting clients ‘harass’ their staff (it all seemed to be about male to female harassment, inferring that it didn’t happen the other way around, or are we just being naive?). As anyone who has read any form of legal media will be well aware, complacency in this area can lead to rather unpleasant financial shocks. Although perhaps not quite as momentous as the shock that finance company, F&C Asset Management, is facing. The firm is currently contemplating a £19 million bill for allegedly driving the head of its in-house legal team out of her job. Failing to spot the lack of wisdom in taking on a top lawyer, who had been described as a ‘whirling dervish’ by her peers, the firm apparently made Gill Switalski’s life more than a little difficult over an 18 month period by constantly querying her expenses and working methods, asking for her mother’s death certificate when she cancelled a business trip after the bereavement and asking her to come into the office when she was still connected up to a drip after a serious operation. If the case succeeds it will swamp the previous record for a gender discrimination case - a paltry £6.5 million won by a bond trader at Morgan Stanley. So do be careful out there.
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