'You're a grown man; you can sort this out': Goldman Sachs banker wins unfair-dismissal case over sex discrimination
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- An ex-Goldman Sachs banker has won a sex-discrimination case after being dismissed by the bank.
- He said he was unfairly treated when he said he was struggling to balance work and parenthood.
- A tribunal heard that one of Reeves' bosses repeatedly told him to "figure it out."
A former Goldman Sachs banker has won a sex-discrimination case after he was dismissed by the investment bank soon after returning from parental leave.
Jonathan Reeves, who was a vice president in the bank's compliance division in London, said he was unfairly dismissed shortly after returning to work in 2022.
The bank had said he was dismissed for performance reasons.
An employment tribunal ruled in Reeves' favor, saying Goldman Sachs subjected him "to sex discrimination when it alleged that he had performed worse than his peers, reduced his remuneration and dismissed" him.
Reeves told the tribunal that during a call in early 2020, he told his bosses he was finding it difficult to balance his childcare responsibilities for his first child with his job while working from home during COVID-19 lockdowns.
He told the tribunal he was repeatedly shouted at to "figure it out" by his superior Omar Beer.
The tribunal heard that another of his bosses, Tin Hsien Tan, said she had not heard this particular phrase being used but said: "I am sure it would have been more like, 'You're a grown man; you can sort this out.'"
"Mr. Beer appeared to be unwilling to acknowledge to the particular hardships or difficulties that some people, including those with very young children, might have experienced during COVID lockdowns," the judgment said.
Reeves also told the tribunal that Goldman Sachs bosses were "more empathic towards female employees in relation to childcare" than with men.
In late 2021, Reeves told his bosses that he and his wife were having a second child and that he planned to take six months of parental leave between November 2021 and May 2022. Before his leave began, Reeves said Beer told him that he was "jealous" and that he should "take advantage" of the leave.
He was dismissed soon after returning from this leave.
"There was no attempt by the Respondent to carry out any fair process before dismissing the Claimant," the tribunal said.
A spokesperson from Goldman Sachs told Business Insider: "The firm is deeply committed to supporting working parents, with hundreds of Goldman Sachs fathers having taken up our market leading 26 weeks paid parental leave since it was introduced in 2019. We are carefully reviewing the judgment and the reasoning supporting its findings."