Boutique private bank J. Safra Sarasin has been accused of shocking apathy, and must defend actions in court next month.

J. Safra Sarasin is being sued for more than HK$1.37 million ($175,650) by a former employee. The banker, Eleanor Marie Coleman, has filed a writ with the District Court in Hong Kong where she was employed by the bank. The document was made available last Thursday.

Coleman alleges both the bank and her immediate supervisor, long-term banker Feroze Sukh, are culpable under Hong Kong’s Sex Discrimination Ordinance and Disability Discrimination Ordinance. The first hearing is scheduled on May 22.

Sign Or Else 

Coleman says she was asked to resign by the bank while still on sick leave following a miscarriage for which she had a sick leave certificate from the government-run Queen Mary Hospital in Hong Kong. She alleges she signed under duress, having been threatened that her license to practice in Hong Kong would be revoked if she did not do so.

But Coleman’s troubles with the bank began some time before then when she was advised by a colleague – referred to simply as «KW» in the writ – not to disclose her pregnancy to Sukh until she had to because he would react badly. When she did disclose it, Sukh is believed to have said that having two pregnant members on his small team of eight was in poor form. 

 Toughen Up 

Coleman also alleges others disparaging comments from Sukh, notably «toughen up» after she miscarried. She says she was also told that she should focus on work now «that it is [the pregnancy] over». He also alluded to the fact that she was the sole bread winner for her family and could not afford to be difficult or lose her job.

Despite this, she was indeed fired by Sikh while still on sick leave. In her submission to the court Coleman asks for an apology from the bank for the way she was treated and has asked the court to order J. Safra Sarasin to implement diversity training for senior staff and directors. 

A career banker, Sukh had previously worked for ABN Amro and Deutsche Bank and services primarily expatriate clients based in Asia. Ironically, one of private banking's best-known female leaders in the region, Enid Yip, leads J. Safra Sarasin in Asia.