Sep 07, 2007Quickie Link: Gay Bias Still Persists in UK Banks
By vanrozenheim
(UK) - Discrimination and homophobia in the financial services industry persists despite an improvement in attitudes, a senior banker told Stratford employment tribunal on Thursday. Peter Lewis, a former head of equity trading at HSBC, also said he believed that the mindset in the investment banking sector towards equal opportunities generally "lagged [behind] those of other industries". His comments were made as the 46-year-old banker relaunched legal claims that human resources staff at HSBC "rushed to judgment" against him because he was Gay. Mr Lewis believes that alleged bias cost him his job and is pursuing a claim of discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation against the bank.
