Black Barclays banker alleges years of discrimination - lawsuit

By Kirstin Ridley

LONDON (Reuters) - A Black Barclays banker is alleging he faced years of discrimination that violated his dignity and created a hostile work environment that left him feeling trapped and in fear for his job.

Henry-Serge Moune Nkeng, who is of Cameroonian origin, is one of three Black bankers to sue the British bank and a number of senior employees in a joint London claim that alleges they were treated unfairly because of their race.

Claire McCann, a lawyer for the bank, told the East London Employment Tribunal on Thursday that Moune Nkeng had been selective with his evidence, had misrepresented emails and that parts of his case were exaggerated in an attempt to explain away things that undermined his arguments.

Barclays declined to comment.

Moune Nkeng, an assistant vice president who works on the market risk model validation team, alleges that hurtful and discriminatory comments, that began with his 2014 appraisal, laid the foundation for a campaign that was intimidating.

He alleged he and former vice president Louis Samnick, who is also bringing a race discrimination claim against the bank, were disparagingly referred to as "the French Legion" at a Christmas dinner in 2014, a court document showed.

His operational boss was aggressive, edits and corrections to his work showed he was being set up to fail and his managers racially discriminated against him by "forcing" him to return to the office despite a serious knee injury, which put him into "panic mode", he alleges.

McCann, however, said he had praised his managers for their "great support" during an appraisal process and noted he had not been put on a performance improvement plan despite a poor performance rating in 2017 because of his knee surgeries.

She also said emails showed his bosses had made it clear he could work from home as long as necessary, disputing his claim that he was not given the option to apply formally for flexible working.

"You don't need to ask for something if you're already being given it," she said.

"This is also part of my perception," Moune Nkeng said. "There was an expectation to be in the office."

Moune Nkeng is the first of the three bankers to give evidence. Samnick and Christian Abanda Bello, a former Barclays vice president, are all suing the bank in a case that will continue.

(Reporting by Kirstin Ridley; Editing by Mark Potter)