Former Deutsche Bank executive makes unfair dismissal Employment Tribunal claim

A former banking executive has brought his claims to the Employment Tribunal after he was dismissed last year on allegations of sexual impropriety.

Konrad Joy, a former executive at Deutsche Bank AG, made his claims for sex discrimination and unfair dismissal to the Employment Tribunal after he was fired in 2013 after a number of female staff made complaints to the bank that he had sexually harassed them.

Mr Joy, who started working for the bank in 1989 and earned £1 million a year, was subjected to an internal disciplinary panel after 11 junior female colleagues made complaints that he had sexually harassed them in the workplace. An investigation by the bank found that the executive had a case to answer and he was subsequently fired for gross misconduct after a manager conducting a disciplinary hearing upheld the complaints by the junior staff.

Court documents revealed that female staff at the bank alleged that Mr Joy made the following comments to them:

• That he invited to women to “have a threesome”
• That he “discussed pornographic films openly in the office”
• That he made “numerous comments about the size of female employees’ breasts”

The claim has now come to a hearing at a London Employment Tribunal, which is due to last for 25 days. Mr Joy, giving evidence at the hearing, stated that the women’s conduct in making complaints about him amounted to “harassment” and that there was a “ladette” culture at the banking firm. He also stated that the allegations made against him at the bank were “shocking, untrue and slanderous”. Mr Joy gave further evidence that he hadn’t been able to find work since he was dismissed from his job in 2013 and that he had suffered from an “overwhelming sense of shock and horror” regarding the allegations that had been made against him and his dismissal.

Kathryn Hanes, a spokeswoman for Deutsche Bank, commented that Mr Joy’s “continued employment [was] inconsistent with our values”.

Chris Hadrill, a specialist employment solicitor at Redmans, commented on the allegations: “Employers have a duty to carry out a reasonable investigation when undertaking a disciplinary process, and this is one of the bases on which Mr Joy is founding his claim. Employers must take extreme care to carry out a fair, impartial and prompt investigation into allegations against employees as a failure to do so may breach the ACAS Code of Practice.”

The Employment Tribunal hearing continues.