Key facts
- Goldman Sachs executive Jonathan Reeves was dismissed in 2022 while on paternity leave.
- Reeves sued for sex discrimination and unfair dismissal, seeking £3.8m.
- A tribunal found Goldman Sachs failed on procedural grounds and did not consult him adequately.
- A judge awarded Reeves £1.45m in damages, including for lost earnings and injury to feelings.
- Goldman Sachs criticized the ruling, stating it disagrees with the decision.
Goldman Sachs has criticized a tribunal's decision to award a former senior executive £1.45 million after he was dismissed while on paternity leave. Jonathan Reeves, who served as the deputy global head of the Wall Street bank’s compliance ‘control room’ in London, was dismissed in 2022 shortly before he was due to return from a six-month parental leave.
Reeves sued the investment banking giant for sex discrimination and unfair dismissal, seeking £3.8 million in damages. The bank claimed his dismissal was due to a diminished need for his role. However, a tribunal found in its original 2024 ruling that the bank replaced him with two co-deputy global heads and had failed on procedural grounds. These failures included not consulting him at a formative stage, not objectively scoring or pooling him, and not making a reasonable effort to place him in alternative roles.
The tribunal also noted that the bank had expected Reeves to secure a new internal role while still on parental leave, with his manager later calling him “lazy” for failing to do so. A spokesperson for Goldman Sachs stated, “We strongly disagree with this decision.”
Earlier this week, a judge awarded Reeves £1.45 million. This figure was reached after applying a 50% deduction, as the tribunal concluded there was a significant likelihood he would have fairly been made redundant regardless. The payout includes damages for injury to feelings, lost earnings, a penalty against Goldman for procedural failures, and compensation for "stigma" across London’s financial sector, acknowledging the profound career implications of such litigation for senior professionals.