A former global head of recruitment at Goldman Sachs is seeking a £1 million payout over allegations that bullying and a ‘relentless’ workload at the US bank destroyed his mental and physical health.
Ian Dodd, who worked for Goldman Sachs in London from 2018 to 2021, has lodged a personal injury claim with the High Court, which alleges that “working unreasonable and excessive hours” led him to develop atrial fibrillation, depression and suicidal thoughts.
He said he felt physically and mentally burnt out by his employer’s “unrealistic expectations”.
Documents filed by his legal team, which were seen by Reuters, said: “His onerous workload and the associated stress and uncertainty that he faced when working unreasonable and excessive hours, together with the failure of the defendant’s senior leadership partners to provide him with adequate support, culminated in him wanting to take his own life.”
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The documents claim that at most team meetings “at least one member of the team often ended up in tears or exhibited stress behaviours”.
Goldman Sachs told Reuters that Dodd had only worked at the bank for a few weeks before taking sick leave in April 2019 and had repeatedly ignored managers’ guidance to reduce his “self-imposed workload”.
The investment bank’s court filings said: “If he felt pressure, it was self-generated; it was not imposed on him. If he did work excessive hours, this was not because it was required or expected of him.”
Goldman Sachs has been contacted by Personnel Today for comment. It told Reuters that it believed his claims were “completely without merit”.
The High Court will hear Dodd’s claim for personal injury, loss and damage in early 2025.
It is not the first time that a Goldman Sachs employee has raised issues with their workload. In 2021 a group of junior bankers threatened to quit after claiming they were working 95-hour weeks, with some sleeping only five hours a night.
Chief executive David Solomon thanked the group for raising their concerns with managers but encouraged employees to “go the extra mile” for clients, even if they felt they were reaching their limit.
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