Goldman Sachs banker claims she was cheated out of millions due to pregnancy

A top banker at Goldman Sachs has claimed that she was cheated out of millions of pounds in bonuses and subjected to “derogatory references” for being pregnant.

Sonia Pereiro-Mendez has launched a claim stating that when she announced to bosses that she was pregnant she was “publicly mocked” and told that it meant she wasn’t “a significant long-term player.” Yet Pereiro-Mendez had worked at the bank for more than a decade and climbed the corporate ladder to become a senior banker.

The claim states, three months after her pregnancy was announced, Pereiro-Mendez’s annual salary was cut from £250,000 to £192,000 – despite continuing to bring business in for the bank. An employee in her position is also normally given a bonus equal to five percent of the profit they bring in but she also didn’t receive anything. Her bonus should have equated to £450,000.

Pereiro-Mendez says that Goldman Sachs’ criteria for bonuses “disproportionately disadvantaged women” and “therefore amounted to sex discrimination.”

Furthermore, the claim states that Pereiro-Mendez’ manager “publicly mocked the claimant before certain of her male peers for no good reason.” And that he “made overtly sexist comments to the claimant, including on one occasional a comment amounting to explicit sexual harassment.”

The full tribunal will take place this week and is expected to hear from at least 15 witnesses.