£185k banker who had affair at work loses her job claim
A HIGH-FLYING banker who claimed she was forced out of HSBC after an affair with a married colleague was ‘unreliable and selfserving’, a tribunal has ruled.
Madeleine Luckham, 38, said her life became hell when she called time on the fling with father-of-four Robert Clegg, 48.
She accused him of setting out on a ‘mission to destroy’ her career and referred to him as ‘ Weinstein’ after the jailed movie mogul who preyed on actresses.
She also claimed that Mr Clegg had sex in the work toilet with another employee shortly after their split, before emerging ‘sweaty’ and winking at her.
But an employment tribunal in Stratford accepted his explanation that he was helping the woman clear up after being sick on hearing some distressing news and that the layout of the office meant Miss Luckham could not have had the view she claimed.
Miss Luckham, whose £550-a-day contractor rate would have earned her £185,000 a year, said she was promised a £130,000 staff job that she never got because of sexism at the bank.
But other workers and contractors complained about her, the tribunal was told.
Throwing out her claims of sex discrimination, harassment and victimisation, Judge Catrin Lewis said: ‘We do not find he (Mr Clegg) abused his power or control over the claimant or acted in the way she described. We find he treated her more favourably than he would have done others in the same circumstances.’
Of the allegation that she was forced out, the tribunal ruled: ‘ The reason why the claimant’s contract was not renewed was because of the concerns raised by HR in very strong terms as a result of a number of complaints about her conduct towards col
‘Conflicting accounts’
leagues and others she worked with.
‘We have been faced with conflicting accounts of numerous events where we have unfortunately been drawn to the conclusion that the claimant’s account of those events is unreliable and self-serving. In a large number of instances the allegations were based purely on the interpretation placed by the claimant on events or action, which was not supported by any cogent evidence.’
Mr Clegg was fired by the bank last year for gross misconduct, the tribunal heard. He admitted at the hearing that he had failed to declare both his relationship with Miss Luckham and a second with another woman who worked at the bank.