Fieldfisher has been ordered to pay a secretary £20,000 after a tribunal ruled that she had been unfairly dismissed.
The secretary, who was represented by crusading biglaw-botherer Avi Bitton, worked in the firm's Paris office. As revealed by RollOnFriday, she alleged that its managing partner, Bruno Paccioni, bashed her with the loo door when she stopped him and asked to be paid for overtime. She also claimed that Paccioni invited her into the loo and asked her whether she wanted to "hold it" for him. When two trainees agreed to write down what they had seen, she said, a second partner warned them that unless they altered their statements they would be fired and their careers ruined.
Having been dismissed, the secretary sued Fieldfisher for unpaid overtime, for her dispute with Paccioni and for being "humiliated" when she was ordered off the premises and found herself standing on the pavement with a box of her belongings. The tribunal agreed that she had been unfairly dismissed, but awarded substantially less than for €120,000 she had been seeking. Instead it ordered Fieldfisher to pay €13,379 in damages, €3,764 in respect of her notice period and €3,260 in costs.
When RollOnFriday first revealed the story, a spokesman for Fieldfisher said the firm would not comment as the case was "still running". Now that it is over, the firm has...declined to comment. Surely not because it lost.
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The secretary, who was represented by crusading biglaw-botherer Avi Bitton, worked in the firm's Paris office. As revealed by RollOnFriday, she alleged that its managing partner, Bruno Paccioni, bashed her with the loo door when she stopped him and asked to be paid for overtime. She also claimed that Paccioni invited her into the loo and asked her whether she wanted to "hold it" for him. When two trainees agreed to write down what they had seen, she said, a second partner warned them that unless they altered their statements they would be fired and their careers ruined.
"Okay, I'll say that she offered to hold it" |
Having been dismissed, the secretary sued Fieldfisher for unpaid overtime, for her dispute with Paccioni and for being "humiliated" when she was ordered off the premises and found herself standing on the pavement with a box of her belongings. The tribunal agreed that she had been unfairly dismissed, but awarded substantially less than for €120,000 she had been seeking. Instead it ordered Fieldfisher to pay €13,379 in damages, €3,764 in respect of her notice period and €3,260 in costs.
When RollOnFriday first revealed the story, a spokesman for Fieldfisher said the firm would not comment as the case was "still running". Now that it is over, the firm has...declined to comment. Surely not because it lost.
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