HSBC Ex-Banker's Case
Begins Over
Gay-Discrimination
Claim
By CARRICK MOLLENKAMP,
Wall Street Journal online, March 8, 2006
LONDON -- HSBC Holdings PLC and a
former top banker who alleges the bank discriminated against him because he is
gay squared off in one of the first cases brought under a new British employment
law designed to ban discrimination in the workplace on the basis of sexual
orientation.
The case in a British employment tribunal was brought by Peter Lewis, who was
hired as global head of equity trading in 2004 to boost HSBC's
investment-banking unit.
Mr. Lewis's central claim is that he was treated unfairly because he is gay.
He claims he was wrongly dismissed from HSBC after being accused of acting
inappropriately toward another man in a shower at the company's fitness center.
"I know in my heart of hearts that I had been sacked because I was gay," the
45-year-old Mr. Lewis said in a witness statement provided as the tribunal began
hearing the case.
HSBC says it investigated the complaint of alleged sexual harassment against Mr.
Lewis and decided to dismiss him. In December 2004, an internal HSBC panel
ruled that Mr. Lewis was being dismissed for gross misconduct. Mr. Lewis
appealed unsuccessfully within the bank.
Mr. Lewis "was not treated less favorably in any material respect, and his
sexual orientation had no influence whatsoever on these decisions," HSBC said in
a statement to the tribunal.
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| Peter Lewis, HSBC's former global head of
equities trading, arrives at court in London yesterday. |
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The United Kingdom law, introduced in
2003, opened the door for cases such as Mr. Lewis's. The hearing is
expected to last more than a week. Details unveiled at the tribunal could
prove embarrassing for HSBC, a conservative British bank that is the
third-largest in the world by market value.
Mr. Lewis, who began working in London's financial district in 1983, worked at
French bank Société Générale SA for six years before joining HSBC in September
2004. At the time, HSBC was beginning a major and expensive effort to
build up its investment bank.
Mr. Lewis told the tribunal in his statement that he made no secret of the fact
that he was gay. But he claims that problems arose early in his time at
HSBC. A manager questioned him in public when he sought to take his
partner on a business trip, for instance -- something Mr. Lewis says he had done
at Société Générale with no problem. Separately, Mr. Lewis says he
received harassing phone calls at home that denigrated his sexuality.
The case centers on the events that took place in the HSBC fitness center and
shower in November 2004. Mr. Lewis says he worked out, showered and began
to dress. Then, Mr. Lewis says a man, identified in the tribunal filings
as person "A," approached him and demanded to know his name.
"As a gay man, I am aware that my sexuality can provoke hostile reactions from
people," Mr. Lewis said in his statement. "I just wanted him to go away.
I therefore gave him a name which was not mine and which I made up on the spot."
Mr. Lewis chose the name, "Paul Broadway," according to the tribunal filing.
Five days later, Mr. Lewis says he received an urgent call from HSBC's
human-resources department. The office directed him to HSBC's outside law
firm, where he learned that the person known as "A" had alleged, according to
tribunal papers, that Mr. Lewis "looked at him in a way which made him feel
uncomfortable."
The papers allege that "A" was in the shower when Mr. Lewis went to the next
cubicle and "acted inappropriately."
Yesterday, the tribunal visited the changing room and shower.
Write to Carrick Mollenkamp at
carrick.mollenkamp@wsj.com.
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