£850k sales exec forced out by the old boys’ network
A top sales executive who sealed seven-figure deals has won a sex discrimination claim after she was ‘pushed aside for an old boys’ network’.
A tribunal heard Nadine Lee’s male bosses ‘went behind her back’ when they gave her multi-million pound accounts to new salesmen.
Ms Lee was a sales manager at the London office of Splunk – a Silicon Valley software company. She was reportedly successful at her job and took home £750,000 one year through commission on top of her £95,000 salary.
She was regularly lauded for negotiating lucrative deals with high-profile clients –including top global banks – and she won prestigious sales awards.
But bosses feared she would ‘burn out’ so they encouraged her to take six months leave. However, they then gave her profitable accounts to newly-hired salesmen without her permission.
one new salesman – who had been friends with Ms Lee’s bosses for years – was given a higher salary than her. When she returned, she found she now had significantly less valuable accounts.
Ms Lee has now successfully sued the San Francisco-based company for sex discrimination after arguing that new male recruits were given ‘preferential treatment’.
She told bosses: ‘this appears to be an old boys’ network and a high-performing female from an ethnic background with an outstanding performance is being pushed aside for the furtherance of that network.’ Ms Lee’s accounts were transferred to male employees just three weeks before she returned from leave. A judge ruled that this reallocation of accounts was ‘humiliating’ and wouldn’t have happened to a man.
A tribunal report revealed there is a gender imbalance at the male- dominated Splunk where men make up ‘90 per cent of its upper pay quartile’.
Global account manager Ms Lee worked for the company from February 2013 until she resigned soon after returning from leave in August 2018.
For years, she had many top accounts – including ‘one of the largest banks in the world’ – and she had closed ‘large deals’ for them. the sales manager, who graduated from the University of
British Columbia in 2001, had received numerous emails from bosses praising her for her ‘masterful’ work and she was given a Rolex along with a ‘onetime spot bonus’ of £70,000.
the company also praised her after she closed a series of multi-million pound deals – including one worth £9million. But soon after in January 2018, her boss said she should take six months leave. Colin Ferguson said she ‘had been a consistent high performer and her work effort and ethic had been the highest he had seen in the UK’ – but was worried she would ‘burn out’.
Sales director Steven Gracey then headhunted Raj Dosanjh –who he previously knew – and gave him a £110,000 salary which was £15,000 more than Ms Lee’s. the tribunal heard Mr Gracey then oversaw the reallocation of Ms Lee’s biggest accounts to Mr Dosanjh.
Employment Judge Lewis said: ‘Reallocating [accounts] without Ms Lee’s consent was a detriment. the claimant was a top performer, if not the top performer, for many years. these were high-value accounts on which she had built relationships and had recently secured large high-profile deals.’
the judge added: ‘the way it was handled while the claimant was away and behind her back was because of the claimant’s sex. Mr Dosanjh and/or a man in the claimant’s position would not have been treated this way.’
the judge was also critical of bosses describing Ms Lee as a ‘good but not great salesperson’ who needed ‘hand-holding’.
Ms Lee sued Splunk for sex discrimination and unfair dismissal. She is yet to receive compensation.