Bosses joked I didn’t wash, says Bulgarian
THE former vice-president of an international bank has claimed he was ousted from his £100,000-a-year job because of anti-eastern European bias in the UK.
Georgi Mechkarov, the former vice-president of corporate and investment banking at Citibank, is seeking nearly £3million in damages over claims his bosses wanted to “ship” him back to Bulgaria. The 34-year-old has also alleged that bosses made a joke about Bulgarians not showering.
Citibank also failed to help him find a suitable role when he took voluntary redundancy following a year off with stress, he alleged.
He is now claiming £2.75 million for breach of contract, unfair dismissal and wages at Stratford Employment Tribunal. The banker estimates the longterm financial impact on his career to be just over £13.5 million. While at Citibank’s London office Mr Mechkarov claims senior staff made jokes about his nationality. He told the tribunal: “I was under a great deal of stress and had to work on average 15 hours a day and sometimes had to stay in the office without going home for the night.
“On one of these mornings Catherine Pierre made a remark passing by my desk saying ‘aren’t people taking showers in Bulgaria’ which was met with giggles and laughter by the wider team.
“As it happens with so many Eastern Europeans in the UK, Catherine perceived me as an easy victim.”
He claims Miss Pierre failed to pass on his CV within Citibank for internal roles despite telling him she would. In the witness box Miss Pierre admitted she “forgot” to circulate his CV and said she was not aware of the suitable job vacancies.
Citibank has denied the claims and said staff who helped Mr Mechkarov find another job gave “good advice” that helped secure his current role as vice-president of credit risk management at Morgan Stanley. The tribunal continues.