Norway wealth fund did not discriminate against female employee, court rules

By Gwladys Fouche

OSLO (Reuters) -Norway's $1.4 trillion wealth fund did not discriminate against a senior female employee and will not have to pay her the damages she sought, a court ruled on Thursday.

Elisabeth Bull Daae, head of trading analytics at Norges Bank Investment Management, had sued the unit of the central bank managing the fund for 16 million crowns ($1.54 million) in compensation and damages for workplace gender discrimination.

"Norges Bank is acquitted," the court ruled.

The central bank, which pushes the firms it invests in to have more women on their boards and to combat all forms of discrimination, had denied the allegations.

Bull Daae had said she was paid less than her male colleagues doing equivalent jobs for a decade and also said she was asked by some of her male colleagues to change the soap in the men's bathroom and check whether there was fresh milk in the fridge in a communal area.

The court ruled Bull Daae should pay costs incurred by the central bank, totalling some 1.9 million crowns.

In the first case of its kind for the fund, some of the witnesses included central bank Governor Ida Wolden Bache, fund CEO Nicolai Tangen and his deputy Trond Grande, and the fund's chief investment officer, Geir Oeyvind Nygaard.

Tangen told the court in May the organisation had done its utmost to solve the conflict and avoid going to court, but that Bull Daae had rejected all offers proposed by the fund, where she still works.

In its verdict, the court said the bank "cannot be blamed in any way for this case coming to court nor for the rejection a reasonable settlement".

The fund reiterated on Thursday that this was "a sad case" and added: "But we have always maintained that there was no factual or legal basis for the lawsuit. We are pleased that the court has come to the same conclusion."

"We will now spend time properly reviewing the verdict and find learning where we can," said a fund spokesperson.

Bull Daae's lawyer said her client was "of course very disappointed with the verdict".

"She registers the court has essentially relied on Norges Bank's description of the facts - and this is thus the result," Sigurd Knudtzon told Reuters.

"It is too early to say whether the verdict will be appealed."

($1 = 10.6157 Norwegian crowns)

(Reporting by Gwladys Fouche; Editing by Terje Solsvik, Alexandra Hudson)