Lloyds Bank PLC, one of the largest banks in the UK, is being sued by two female employees who claim that the company unfairly discriminated against them by way of instituting disciplinary action following the pair’s posting of anti-Israel criticisms on the bank’s internal chat platform in 2021.
In their posts, Afra Sohail and Aunngbeen Khalid urged their colleagues to boycott Israeli products and divest from companies that profited from alleged Israeli “war crimes” in Palestine.
Sohail, a former customer adviser, has since left the bank. Khalid continues to work for Lloyds as a a fair assessment adviser.
The pair claimed at a London tribunal they were discriminated against on the basis of their political and religious beliefs after the bank sanctioned and reported them to the Financial Conduct Authority for gross misconduct. In justifying the sanctions, the bank originally stated that the posts had breached the company’s policies on “professional integrity”. According to FCA rules, the sanctions will remain on their record several years and would be seen by any potential employer if they applied for jobs in the financial sector.
In a statement, a Lloyds spokesperson said: “It would be inappropriate to comment on an ongoing legal case. We are committed to providing an inclusive place of work for everyone, and will always take appropriate action if colleagues fail to meet the expected standards set out clearly in our conduct policy.”
Lloyds is not the only company in the financial sector that has been accused of discriminating against those who express pro-Palestinian views. Last month we reported that two employees at the Swiss financial firm Edelweiss were suspended for engaging in an online war of words about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In October 2023, the American corporate law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell, which mostly serves clients in the financial sector, rescinded job offers made to graduating law students who expressed views that were sympathetic to Palestinians.