A City executive who is claiming £4m compensation for sex discrimination and constructive unfair dismissal was told her bonus was withheld because the company was undergoing a tax investigation, a tribunal heard.
Jordan Wimmer, 29, is suing her former employer Nomos Capital, which has since gone into liquidation, following claims that boss Mark Lowe repeatedly told sexist and inappropriate jokes during her five years with his company, calling female employees ‘Mark’s angels’.
The court heard how Wimmer was denied a £377,000 payment as management feared it would raise “too many red flags” with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, the Telegraph reported.
Wimmer alleges Lowe regularly invited escorts to work functions attended by female colleagues and clients.
She claims that Lowe’s behaviour pushed her into mental illness.
At the Central London Employment Tribunal yesterday, Wimmer’s barrister Julian Wilson said that in 2008, his client received £100,000 of her £477,000 bonus.
The full amount was paid much later in the year, but Wimmer became increasingly stressed and concerned by the missing payment.
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Lowe denied the bonus was withheld because of a tax investigation, and insisted bonus payments “were discretionary” and that there was no “legal obligation” to pay them at a specific time of the year.
The tribunal continues, and is expected to conclude next week.