Bullying claim lawyer’s £3.4m property deals - while she was signed off sick

A City lawyer who is seeking record compensation for bullying at work carried out six property deals totalling £3.4million while signed off sick, it has been claimed.

Gill Switalski jointly owns the firm responsible for the deals but told an employment tribunal she had nothing to do with the day-to-day running of the business.

Her husband Andrew Wright is the other partner in the property company.

Their portfolio includes their £1.9million home in Virginia Water, Surrey, as well as three properties in the French ski resort of Chamonix which have a combined worth in excess of £1million.

Legal documents submitted to the tribunal by her former employer, F&C Asset Management, claim Ms Switalski took part in all the transactions after August 2006.

That was the month her GP first signed her off sick as the firm’s £95,000-a-year legal director.

F&C’s lawyers told the Central London tribunal that ‘there is credible evidence that Ms Switalski’s involvement in property had been materially greater than she has acknowledged from August 2006’.

Former Salvation Army officer Ms Switalski, who is seeking £19million in damages for sexual discrimination, denies the claim.

Sandbanks, Dorset: Bought apartment in July 2007 for £870,000 and sold it in December the same year for £1.1million

She has said that her husband, a £21,000-a-year science teacher, and property agents are responsible for all the transactions.

The investments – recorded in the names of 51-year-old Ms Switalski, Mr Wright and their company Churchgates Ltd – began with the purchase of Residence Grand Roc, near Chamonix, France, in August 2006 for £163,000.

The fourth-floor flat is 90 yards from the ski area and is described as ‘newly renovated’ on one lettings website.

In January 2007 they bought their Surrey home for £1.9million. Since then they have won permission to increase the height of the roof and enlarge the first floor and to build a two-storey house near the main building and a new drive.

Four months later, in May 2007, they bought two adjoining flats in a chalet in Chamonix for £580,000.

Enquiries by this newspaper show the chalet has been all but demolished to make way for a new one - expected to bring the cost of the couple’s total investment to £1million.

Virginia Water, Surrey: They bought their home for £1.9million in January 2007

A notice at the property called a ‘permis de construire’ states that work is being undertaken on behalf of ‘Mademoiselle et Monsieur Wright’.

In July 2007 they bought a seaside apartment for £870,000 in Sandbanks, Dorset.

After carrying out extensive renovations costing at least £150,000 they then sold it in December of the same year for £1.1million.

The next deal was the sale of a half-share in the couple’s three-bedroom flat at Avenue Michel Croz in Chamonix for £385,000 in September 2007 – a healthy return on the £513,000 they paid for the whole property 18 months before.

Last week an architect employed at the property said: ‘My job is to work for Gillian - not answer questions about her.’

It has been advertised on a property website to let at £4,000 a week in the winter months and £1,520 a week in the summer.

In a letter to the tribunal, F&C’s solicitors alleged Ms Switalski was far more involved in the buying, selling and developing of the properties than previously admitted.

They said: ‘The respondent’s solicitors have credible evidence that her involvement in property has been materially greater than she has acknowledged from August 2006 onwards.

'During that period she has not allowed her husband or the other agents to manage existing properties.’

Ms Switalski claims she was driven out of her job following a sustained campaign of bullying that included intimidation, sexual discrimination and victimisation.

In a further twist it was revealed yesterday that she was first signed off sick because of complications from an operation in July 2006.

She subsequently went on holiday to India, where she ‘developed inflammation’.

When Ms Switalski returned to England, an infection meant she was forced to undergo further surgery, leaving her virtually unable to walk.

Doctors’ notes show that she was signed off sick from August onwards. It was not until October 2006 that depression was mentioned – leading to two months signed off.

The lawyer has also admitted attending two interviews with headhunters hired to find a General Counsel for the London Olympics Organising Committee in 2006.

She made it to the final two but was not appointed.

She is also accused of accepting £24,000 of free legal advice from solicitors Eversheds – in contravention of F&C’s company policy.

The tribunal continues.

Ms Switalski and her husband declined to comment last night.