Lloyds Sued by UK Staff Disciplined Over Pro-Palestine Posts

Lloyds Bank Plc was sued by two female employees who argued the company discriminated against them when they were disciplined after posting criticism of Israel on the bank’s internal chat platform in 2021.

Afra Sohail، a customer adviser، and Aunngbeen Khalid، a fair assessment adviser، 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. Both still work for Lloyds. The lender denies all the allegations of discrimination.

The comments، made by the two women more than two years before the Oct. 7 terror attack in Israel and the ensuing fighting in Gaza، were inappropriate and against the FCA conduct rules، the bank’s lawyers said in court documents.

Curbing free speech

A disciplinary manager at the lender said in testimony at a hearing on Monday that the bank doesn’t curb free speech of employees and said the it doesn’t have any policy to ban criticism of Israel’s government.

The posts were not offensive and the allegation that they were antisemitic was “irrational and spurious،” Franck Magennis، a lawyer for the women said during the hearing.

The court case is the latest example of the balancing act employers have to strike internally on divisive geopolitical events، with the latest Israel-Palestine conflict a delicate issue for companies. Unlike in the US، British companies can’t fire employees on the basis of their political views unless they express them in a discriminatory or offensive manner.

Bristol University found itself on the wrong end of a court decision in February after it was ruled that Professor David Miller faced discrimination when he was fired for his comments about Israel. Lawyers successfully argued that Miller’s anti-Zionist beliefs were a protected belief.

“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 said in a statement. “It would be inappropriate to comment on an ongoing legal case.”

Sohail had sought to raise the topic on the bank’s technology help desk forum and emails to managers urging them to discontinue purchasing computer hardware from a manufacturer that she said provided equipment to the Israel’s military.

Offensive comments

Khalid’s post on an internal chat forum said she was baffled why no one spoke about the Israel-Palestine issues as people did on Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ issues. In another post Khalid wrote — “I understand the ‘Jewish people kind of needed a place to go’ but NO ONE had the right to give them Palestinian’s land.”

The comments were highlighted by another colleague as potentially offensive، according to the bank’s lawyers. The lender conducted an investigation and found that the comments were inappropriate and against the bank’s anti-racist values.

The disciplinary action، which stays on the FCA’s record for six years and can prevent individuals from finding a new job in finance، curtailed their free speech and proceeded on the basis that expressing “philosophical anti-Zionist beliefs was inherently objectionable،” their lawyer said in legal filings.

The women made the comments in the days after an outbreak of violent attacks in May 2021 and seek compensation and withdrawal of the disciplinary action.

“When staying silent is not an option، taking a massive bank to court becomes a sensible choice،” the legal team for the women said in an emailed statement.