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Transsexual
Allowed To Revive Multi-Million Dollar Discrimination Suit Against Bank
11 Oct 2006-
UK- A transsexual man who alleges he was fired by multi-national banking
company HSBC because of his corrected gender will be allowed to appeal a
labor tribunal ruling that dismissed most of his case.
Peter Lewis is
seeking $9 million in damages. It is the biggest case of its kind since
Britain banned discrimination on the basis of sexuality.
HSBC had lured
Lewis away from his former job Societe Generale, where he was head of
global client trading. But in the five months he was at HSBC he said in
his claim that he was subjected to continued homophobic slurs.
HSBC insisted
that Lewis was fired after a lengthy investigation and disciplinary
hearing into claims he sexually harassed another male employee.
Last May the
tribunal rejected most of the points in his claim.
The board did,
however, say that Lewis had been the victim of anti-gay treatment while
he worked for the firm.
"We have
decided that there are facts from which the tribunal could conclude [he
received] less favorable treatment on the grounds of sexual orientation"
but the decision to dismiss him "was not in fact influenced by [his]
sexual orientation," the tribunal said in ruling.
Lewis filed an
appeal and on Wednesday, without giving an explanation for its finding,
the Employment Appeals Tribunal authorized a full hearing on the case.
HSBC has
already filed an appeal over the areas in which the tribunal found for
Lewis. Both appeals will be heard at the same time.
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