BNP Paribas SA was ordered to pay a banker it only fired after sexual harassment allegations made against him came to light in a newspaper article, as French judges turned the blame on the bank for failing to act years before the matter was made public.
(Bloomberg) — BNP Paribas SA was ordered to pay a banker it only fired after sexual harassment allegations made against him came to light in a newspaper article, as French judges turned the blame on the bank for failing to act years before the matter was made public.
The Paris court of appeals highlighted “the absence of any true disciplining” by BNP when a female colleague complained in 2012 about Jean-Christophe Wantz and his boss, and questioned “more broadly its policy concerning the handling of sexual harassment.” Both men were given just a warning and continued to be employed by the bank.
The judges said that Wantz did nothing that could warrant a dismissal for gross misconduct when the article by Libération came out in 2017. His behavior, which led to the warning, “cannot be invoked to justify a dismissal several years after it occurred,” the Paris court of appeals ruled. BNP must now pay Wantz around €286,000 ($304,860).
It’s the second ruling in less than a year that’s gone against the bank. Wantz’s boss was also fired at the height of the MeToo movement in 2017 after Libération reported on his behavior against the same female colleague. At the time, both men were working out of BNP’s Hong Kong office.
The article created a huge stir internally with several BNP employees expressing their dismay after finding out about the bank’s initial lax handling of the matter.
“It’s inconceivable that these people weren’t immediately fired in 2012,” a person in Asia wrote in an internal memo that was quoted in the ruling.
In its decision, the Paris court highlighted BNP’s contradictions. The bank chose in 2012 to keep them on board, yet it currently claims their behavior constituted “serious breaches” of its code of conduct.
As with Wantz, the Paris appeals court ruled last year that the dismissal of the other banker came too late and violated French labor rules. And just a month before that, a BNP broker was awarded £2 million ($2.4 million) in a landmark London ruling on the gender pay gap that could encourage a wave of other women to come forward.
BNP said it plans to lodge an appeal at France’s top court following the most recent decision. The bank said it “does not tolerate any behavior contrary to the respect and dignity of the individual.”
Wantz disputes the allegations of harassment, according to the ruling. His lawyer declined to comment on the February court decision
–With assistance from Alexandre Rajbhandari.
(Updates throughout)
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