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Partner struck me with my own job contract, says manager suing private bank

Banking boss: Jerome Stern, chief executive of J Stern & Co, is accused of subjecting Maribel Montero to "ridicule"
Banking boss: Jerome Stern, chief executive of J Stern & Co, is accused of subjecting Maribel Montero to "ridicule"

A former client manager for a private bank in Knightsbridge claims she was hit with her own employment contract during a campaign to force her out of the company, a tribunal heard.

Maribel Montero, 40, alleges she was “belittled” by Jerome Stern, chief executive of J Stern & Co, excluded from key meetings, and stripped of credit for multi-million pound investment deals.

She claims Mr Stern, the latest member of a 200-year-old banking dynasty, subjected her to “ridicule” and branded her efforts to introduce new clients “useless”.

Ms Montero is suing J Stern & Co for constructive unfair dismissal and victimisation, alleging she was subjected to a “witch hunt” over an expenses claim.

The firm has rejected the allegations, which it has told the hearing are “false and made in bad faith”.

Central London Employment Tribunal has heard Ms Montero’s claim that managing partner Tom Price was one part of the campaign against her, including hitting her on the shoulder with a new employment contract as he tried to pressure her into signing it.

“I was struck on each syllable of ‘when are you going to sign this?’, said in a threatening way”, she said in her witness statement to the tribunal.

Ms Montero said Mr Stern watched the incident and then added: “You know what will happen if you do not sign it.” She was recruited to J Stern & Co in 2014 as a relationship manager on a basic £75,000-a-year salary, and would earn 25 per cent of any profits attributed to her efforts bringing in new clients.

However, Ms Montero claims colleagues at the firm dismissed her introductions as a “waste of time” before contacting the clients themselves and classifying them as “re-introductions”, to try to strip her of credit for any eventual investment.

Ms Montero submitted a grievance in February 2016, claiming she was the victim of discrimination.

She told the tribunal: “I was ostracised and isolated from the moment I put in my grievance.”

She said the “final straw” came in March last year, after a period off sick with stress, when she was accused of wrongly claiming a £294 dinner expense.

Claire Darwin, representing the firm, dismissed the allegations against the company. She told the tribunal: “There’s documentary evidence that she was looking for a new job long before many of these incidents happened.”

The tribunal continues.