Villalba v Merrill Lynch & Co Inc
Encyclopedia
Villalba v Merrill Lynch & Co Inc [2007] ICR 469 is a UK labour law case, concerning sex discrimination and equal pay. It was the largest claim to be lodged in the United Kingdom, but was rejected in the Employment Tribunal and on appeal.
's France operations, and had many family members working with the company. She too joined as a graduate and by 2002 had become the "Market Executive for Europe". She reported to a Mr Raymundo Yu, who quickly formed the view that Ms Villalba was "not flexible" in taking criticism or advice on board. Late 2002 was a bad time in the markets, and Mr Yu appointed a Mr Ausuf Abbas, who took over some of Ms Villalba's functions. From then, followed some incidents, which the Tribunal found amounted to less than Ms Villalba had alleged. One was an email
where Mr Abbas said Ms Villalba was "high maintenance". This was found simply to mean "requiring considerable management time and effort". A second was that on a jet flight between Frankfurt
and Milan
, Villalba got the last seat, near the drinks cabinet, and was expected to pour drinks for the fellow travellers. She alleged she was being made to feel like a flight attendant, but it was found that anybody who had sat there would have had to do the same.
Feeling isolated, Ms Villalba confided in the Human Resources head Ms Pauline Cahill and made according to the tribunal a "tentative allegation of sex discrimination", that she was not being treated as an equal team member. Ms Cahill (who had heard concerns about Ms Villalba's performance) encouraged Ms Villalba to work constructively, but then went and told others, and by December 11 Mr Abbas had heard that Ms Villalba had alleged sex discrimination. After that their relationship broke down and she complained further to Ms Cahill that Mr Abbas was "micro managing" her, while afterwards Mr Abbas said he tried to avoid her. In January bonus
es were awarded, by Mr Yu, and Ms Villalba got the middle ranking bonus for people who merely "achieved requirements". On January 23 Villalba and Abbas had a fight. Human resources did not do anything, except try to keep them apart. Mr Yu tried to find her a new job, but the one he came up with did not have the same pay or promotion prospects. On 21 Villalba sent a letter suggesting sex discrimination. Villalba rejected the new post, or any that would be outside the UK. On 28 March she was offered some leave while a new post was found, and she replied that she had instructed solicitors. After that she was told she must stay at home and her contract was terminated at the end of July.
Bonuses are 75%-80% of pay at Merrill Lynch, and the tribunal noted there is a culture of secrecy about these figures, but at the same time are perceived as a vital indicator of personal worth to the company. The Tribunal rejected the contention about sex discrimination, but did hold that Villalba's claims of victimisation were well founded, given Cahill's failure to keep Villalba's complaints confidential (see SDA 1975 ss 4(1) and 6(2)(b)).
Facts
Stephanie Villalba was the daughter of a former head of Merrill LynchMerrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch is the wealth management division of Bank of America. With over 15,000 financial advisors and $2.2 trillion in client assets it is the world's largest brokerage. Formerly known as Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., prior to 2009 the firm was publicly owned and traded on the New York...
's France operations, and had many family members working with the company. She too joined as a graduate and by 2002 had become the "Market Executive for Europe". She reported to a Mr Raymundo Yu, who quickly formed the view that Ms Villalba was "not flexible" in taking criticism or advice on board. Late 2002 was a bad time in the markets, and Mr Yu appointed a Mr Ausuf Abbas, who took over some of Ms Villalba's functions. From then, followed some incidents, which the Tribunal found amounted to less than Ms Villalba had alleged. One was an email
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
where Mr Abbas said Ms Villalba was "high maintenance". This was found simply to mean "requiring considerable management time and effort". A second was that on a jet flight between Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
and Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Villalba got the last seat, near the drinks cabinet, and was expected to pour drinks for the fellow travellers. She alleged she was being made to feel like a flight attendant, but it was found that anybody who had sat there would have had to do the same.
Feeling isolated, Ms Villalba confided in the Human Resources head Ms Pauline Cahill and made according to the tribunal a "tentative allegation of sex discrimination", that she was not being treated as an equal team member. Ms Cahill (who had heard concerns about Ms Villalba's performance) encouraged Ms Villalba to work constructively, but then went and told others, and by December 11 Mr Abbas had heard that Ms Villalba had alleged sex discrimination. After that their relationship broke down and she complained further to Ms Cahill that Mr Abbas was "micro managing" her, while afterwards Mr Abbas said he tried to avoid her. In January bonus
Bonus
The word Bonus refers to extra pay due to good performance.Bonus may also refer to:- People :* Lawrence Bonus, a Filipino basketball player* Petrus Bonus, a physician* Bonus , a Byzantine general, active in the reign of Justin II...
es were awarded, by Mr Yu, and Ms Villalba got the middle ranking bonus for people who merely "achieved requirements". On January 23 Villalba and Abbas had a fight. Human resources did not do anything, except try to keep them apart. Mr Yu tried to find her a new job, but the one he came up with did not have the same pay or promotion prospects. On 21 Villalba sent a letter suggesting sex discrimination. Villalba rejected the new post, or any that would be outside the UK. On 28 March she was offered some leave while a new post was found, and she replied that she had instructed solicitors. After that she was told she must stay at home and her contract was terminated at the end of July.
Bonuses are 75%-80% of pay at Merrill Lynch, and the tribunal noted there is a culture of secrecy about these figures, but at the same time are perceived as a vital indicator of personal worth to the company. The Tribunal rejected the contention about sex discrimination, but did hold that Villalba's claims of victimisation were well founded, given Cahill's failure to keep Villalba's complaints confidential (see SDA 1975 ss 4(1) and 6(2)(b)).