The former head of Knight Frank’s Russian desk has taken the firm to an employment tribunal accusing it of discrimination against her because of her sex and nationality.
But Knight Frank totally refutes the allegations from Elena Norton, a Russian who moved to KF’s London office from Moscow in 2008.
Norton claims she was consistently treated less favourably than male British colleagues, and was passed up for promotion to proprietary partner.
It culminated in her resignation in May 2013 after she was offered a £50,000 bonus on top of her £108,750 salary, despite generating what she claims was almost £1.8m in income in 2012-13.
In a statement before the Central London Employment Tribunal, Norton claimed that Knight Frank had a “sexist atmosphere” and cited examples of allegedly “sexist and disrespectful comments” made by senior management at company events.
Though her statement does not give a figure for the compensation she seeks for hurt feelings, alleged losses include the £50,000 bonus she says she missed out on by resigning immediately and commission on three transactions of £16m, £12.8m and £7.5m completed shortly before she walked out.
Explaining her decision to resign, she said: “It was now clear to me beyond all doubt that no matter what I did for the firm and how well I performed, they would never treat me as one of them. I would always be a Russian woman and thus inferior to British men.”
Paddy Dring, Knight Frank’s head of the international residential, claimed that personal conflict was Norton’s “Achilles heel” and that she found it difficult to cope with objective criticism.
Sally Chacatté, Knight Frank’s head of human resources, said that the company was “committed to diversity”.
She said Norton’s total remuneration for 2012-13 would have been £241,976 including commission and the £50,000 bonus, which would have put her earning more than those Norton had compared herself against.
Describing a grievance meeting that took place in August 2013, she said: “Despite [her] having an annual package of over £200,000 I was particularly aghast when, during the meeting, Elena stated that Patrick Dring was using her as a “modern slave” and denying her of her bonus.
The Tribunal has reserved its decision and will give it in writing at a later date.
