How ‘Dirty Martini’ sex scandal rocked the Clydesdale Bank
tWo bankers were thrown out of a cocktail bar after having sex in the ladies’ toilets during a work night out, an employment tribunal heard.
their boss George eleftheriou, head of regional business and private banking at clydesdale Bank, was also accused of having sex with the woman involved in the incident in its London office.
the claims came to light when his boss was sent an anonymous letter from other employees complaining that nothing was being done about the scandal.
the unnamed male and female employees, referred to as Z and n, were said to have had sex in the toilet of dirty Martini in covent Garden during a night out with colleagues.
Although Mr eleftheriou, 50, investigated the incident and spoke to those who were there, the bank axed him after an internal investigation found he ‘did not take adequate action’.
But he claimed his sacking was unfair as it was disproportionate and took his case to an employment tribunal in London, which ruled he had been unfairly dismissed.
the tribunal heard the allegations came to light when a letter was sent to Brian colquhoun, then the bank’s regional director for the South Region.
it read: ‘George eleftheriou is aware that some time ago Z and n were engaged in sexual activity in view of others in a public house on a team night out.’
the letter also detailed an occasion when a security guard allegedly surprised n and Mr eleftheriou in a compromising situation in the office.
Mr colquhoun was also told of rumours of Z and n’s inappropriate behaviour at a bank function at another bar, champagne charlie’s, and that there was an unhealthy drinking culture among some staff.
Mr eleftheriou was dismissed without notice on october 17, 2016, for gross misconduct and an internal appeal against the sacking was dismissed in January last year.
the woman, n, was also investigated for ‘obscene communications’ with another colleague, c, and both were sacked.
But Z was only handed a final written warning for the dirty Martini incident and for behaving inappropriately with n on three other occasions.
Both Mr eleftheriou and Z denied having sexual relations with n.
the bank’s internal probe said there was ‘no corroborating evidence’ of a fling between n and Mr eleftheriou and recommended no further action.
But it said he must have been aware of rumours concerning n and Z and that a clique was operating in his department, and should have escalated his investigation to HR.
Mr eleftheriou, who joined the bank in 2010, had no previous disciplinary record and appealed his dismissal.
But the bank’s appeal report said he was partly to blame, stating: ‘there was a widely held perception of a clique, that the claimaint did in fact have a different relationship with some employees and that he had used the office communicator system in a wholly inappropriate way.’
Ruling in his favour, the employment tribunal said that the way Mr eleftheriou was treated did not tally with the punishment given to Z, who was at dirty Martini that night.
A hearing to discuss compensation was set for this month, but this was settled out of court.
‘Drinking culture among staff’