An underwriting firm has been hit with a record fine by Lloyd's of London after female staff were repeatedly subjected to bullying and sexual harassment.
Atrium Underwriting was handed a £1mln penalty and costs of £560,000 by the insurance hub after admitting it had allowed a culture of sexism to persist on annual “boys’ nights outs”.
One of these nights, in 2018, involved two senior executives engaging in “unprofessional and inappropriate conduct, including initiation games, heavy drinking and making inappropriate and sexualised comments about female colleagues, which were both discriminatory and harassing to female members of staff”, said Lloyd's enforcement board.
In a notice of censure, Lloyd's said that the firm had also taken inadequate steps to address one junior female member of staff’s complaints of systematic bullying by an employee over a number of years or to inform the market about the case.
Today’s news will come as a blow to Lloyd's, which has been battling to deal with a seemingly rife culture of sexism in the insurance market in the heart of the City.
A bullying and harassment helpline was set up in 2019 after 500 members said they had witnessed sexual harassment in a survey.
John Neal, Lloyd’s chief executive, said today he was deeply disappointed by the case, adding: "Discrimination, harassment and bullying have no place at Lloyd’s. We will not tolerate poor conduct in our market."
Christopher Stooke, Atrium’s chairman, added: “We fully accept the rulings made by Lloyd’s of London. With deep regret, it is clear that Atrium failed to live up to its values and serious errors were made when handling these matters. We are sorry for the hurt that this caused and how difficult this [has] been for those affected."
Because of Atrium's acceptance and settlement of the proceedings it was given a 30% discount on the fine, which otherwise would have been £1.5mln.