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Top female lawyer destroyed by City bullies could get record £13m payout
Last updated at 00:22am on 12.03.08
City lawyer Gill Switalski and husband Andrew Wright. She claims she was driven out of her job after being subjected to 18 months of sexual discrimination and harassment
Gill Switalski, 51, was head of legal affairs at a City finance company which controlled assets worth more than £102billion.
She held down her £140,000-a-year City job while running her own legal training website and developing a series of multi-million pound properties.
She also cared for her two disabled sons, one of whom has cerebral palsy and the other who has Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism.
But the twice-married mother was driven out of her job after being subjected to 18 months of sexual discrimination and harassment.
The self-confessed workaholic once described as a "whirling dervish" now sleeps for several hours during the day and is on prescription drugs.
She cannot manage her website, properties or even read a newspaper.
An employment tribunal has ruled Mrs Switalski - previously named as one of the legal world's "Hot 100" - must be paid compensation over her claims that she was undermined, undervalued, bullied and marginalised by her former employer, F&C Asset Management.
Her lawyers have put the cost of her psychiatric damage and loss of earnings, pension and career prospects at £13.4million - which would be the biggest sex discrimination payout in Britain.
The largest so far is believed to be the £6.5million won by bond trader Allison Schieffelin in 2005. She successfully claimed that City giant Morgan Stanley had discriminated against her because she was a woman.
In 2003, two City lawyers shared a £6.8million payout after winning a tribunal against the firm Sinclair, Roche and Temperley, which they said had denied them promotions because they were women.
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Dream home: The family's £3.4million Surrey mansion has been sold off
Mrs Switalski sold her family's £3.4million home in Virginia Water, Surrey, to help pay for her legal battle against F&C Asset Management.
Her world slowly fell apart at the hands of a new line manager, the employment tribunal heard.
Mrs Switalski put in flexible hours and wanted to work from home regularly to devote time to her family.
But her line manager Marrack Tomkin began questioning her time away from the office, her holidays and her expenses after he was put in charge of her team and its budget in 2004.
He became "fixated" with her working hours, even though she continued to meet all her targets, and quizzed her juniors about whether she was in the office.
Mrs Switalski complained she was overlooked for management positions and sidelined in favour of her deputy on a project to buy a hedge fund.
At the same time a male employee at the firm who also had children with special needs was allowed to take time off and work from home, her lawyers said.
In March 2006, Mrs Switalski's mother died suddenly and she had to cancel a planned business trip to Boston in the U.S.
She was sent an email demanding her mother's death certificate for the firm's travel insurance claim, the tribunal in central London was told.
That year she had surgery and days later attended a work meeting about her complaints, still carrying a post-operative drain in a plastic bag.
Following the surgery she contracted the life-threatening infection cellulitis and had to have two more operations in August 2006.
She went on sick leave and never returned to the company, quitting in September 2007 after lodging formal complaints about bullying, harassment, intimidation, sex discrimination and victimisation.
Her doctors said she had developed depression because of stress at work and the tribunal last month agreed she was suffering from an "adjustment disorder" which meant she was unable to take part in "normal social interaction".
F&C and its employees, which vehemently deny Mrs Switalski's claims, have lodged an appeal.
Reader views (10)
It is important to note that no amount of money can compensate for the deepest of depression, hopelessness and rejection. I do not believe she is after the money to parade for designer handbags and dinners at the Ritz.
This case highlights the fact that bullying does happen and can destroy people, it is disgusting that any company let alone a listed company like F&C should have a stain like this, one should treat others how one would like to be treated and how can a colleague or a group of colleagues act like this.
This is like Lord of the Flies. If the appeal is overturned- what a beautiful disclosure for the F&C to make in their notes to the accounts.
- Polly, London, UK
Disgusting! If she could not handle the job, she should have looked for one which was not so demanding. It's about time these working mothers were clamped down upon because it is the rest of us who have to carry the load when they are constantly out of the office for one reason or another. This type of "compensation" figure also completely discriminates against single working people as employers will certainly start excluding women from promotion etc. for fear they will be sued for ridiculous amounts of money. Stress and Disability??? she has no idea what some people truly have to suffer and should be ashamed of herself. Let's hope that for once these tribunal courts see sense and throw the whole ridiculous case out. For once I am actually in support of the big corporate as the 'sick note' culture has gone too far.
- Jessie, London, UK
Looks like life got so bad she forgot to put chlorine in the pool.
It is very green...
- Martin, Guildford, UK
The views of Noel, Nick and Marianne are quite shocking - this intelligent woman has been destroyed and left a shadow of her former self because of bullying at work. It is great to see someone standing up for themselves and showing employers they need to deal with bullying bosses otherwise they are at risk of such claims - this sort of thing can only be good for all employees in the long run. People should not diminish the impact on this woman's life because of the size of the award - she will clearly never work again after this ordeal
- Sarah, London, UK
This is sexual discrimination of the worst kind. If a man demanded to have flexible hours and work from home so that he could be with his family, he would be overlooked for promotion too. In the 21st century with equal rights comes equal responsibility.
As she is 51, her maximum earnings till retirement would have been around £1.3m, so she is being paid for 80 years that she had no expectation of working. Nice nest egg for the family!
- Graham, Reading, England
I don't suppose the size of her claim is related to lawyers looking after their own.
- Nick Carmichael, Carshalton, Surrey
And quite right - she was overlooked for promotion when she wanted flexible working hours, and to work from home to devote time to her family. A wage of £140,000 a year demands 100% focus on your job. if you need flexibility maybe a part time job in a shop would be more suitable.
- Noel, London, UK
If that's a recent photo, she's looking smug rather than depressed and disabled! I'm suffering from sympathy failure.
- Marianne, SW France
Seems the work obsession is the real cause (most of us would simply resign if it was getting too much), but if she can manage to sue why not - these City firms are pretty awful, and only encourage an unhealthy attitude to work.
- Nick, London, UK
Feasibly could she not have developed from working so hard and be using the "bullying" as an excuse?
- Roger Aliah, Highgate
