When people prowl around growling, calling each other morons or vile little runts
From the outside, New Star had always seemed an ok place to work. It famously didn't pay cash bonuses until 2008, but it was well-respected and having John Duffield as a mentor has launched some young hedge fund stars.
However, a case being brought at the central London employment tribunal suggests New Star had its issues. The Financial Times reports that Patrick Evershed, a former fund manager at New Star, is suing Duffield for constructive dismissal, partly on the grounds that he destroyed people's health and was a micromanaging bully.
Specifically, Evershed alleges that:
"He would prowl around the floor on a regular basis with his jaw jutting out and emitting growling sounds and call us morons and criminals...He knew how each fund was performing each hour and he would compare our performances against each other in such a way as to cause distress to those who had had a bad hour or day...over a period of time virtually all of us became very depressed".
However, it transpires that Evershed himself called someone who tried to buy HBOS stock, "a vile little runt." And he's alleged to have, "exploded with rage," in a lift.
Is this normal for working in the City? Graduate baiting is commonplace and being asked to bark like a dog is not unheard of. In the past, employers have been able to employ the so-called "bastard defence", defending poor behaviour to one individual on the grounds that it happens to everyone.
Acceptable, or not? If you can't take the heat, should you get out of the kitchen? Or should you get out of the kitchen and then bring a constructive dismissal case complaining about your treatment?
