Female govt who felt ‘grossly underpaid’ at £160,000 a 12 months and demanded practically double the wage wins unfair dismissal declare after male boss stated no then fired her

A female executive who complained of being ‘grossly underpaid’ has won an unfair dismissal claim after her male boss refused her request for a pay rise and then fired her.

The relationship between financial services firm managing director Farmiena Baksh and CEO Anthony Brocco broke down after she ‘ambushed’ him and threatened to resign if he didn’t increase her pay to £300,000.

Ms Baksh started working as a managing director and head of compliance at the UK subsidiary of financial trading company Advanced Markets in July 2018.

She was eventually fired from the company after the CEO concluded she was ‘toxic’ and because of a ‘total loss of trust’ between the two.

The tribunal upheld her unfair dismissal claim after ruling that her termination was ‘procedurally unfair’.

But it declined to award her any compensation because of her ‘blameworthy conduct’ which led up to her sacking.

The tribunal, held in Croydon, south London, heard that in June 2021 Ms Baksh texted Mr Brocco to ask for a £90,000 pay rise from £160,000 to £250,000 for working long hours and doing multiple roles.

She then contacted independent consultant Peter Halloway-Churchill to ask what the salary for a similar role to hers should be and he said £180,000 would be ‘reasonable’.

The relationship between Farmiena Baksh and Anthony Brocco (pictured) broke down after a series of confrontations over her pay

Ms Baksh started working as a managing director and head of compliance at the UK subsidiary of Advanced Markets in July 2018

He told the tribunal Ms Baksh was ‘disappointed’ with this and said she wanted to earn a total of £300,000 because she had made a ‘big contribution’ to the company.

In November 2021 Ms Baksh met with Mr Brocco in Charlotte, North Carolina, where the USA parent company was based, to discuss her salary.

Mr Brocco claimed that Ms Baksh ‘ambushed’ him at the meeting by saying the purpose of her visit to the US was to resign from the company and that she was ‘grossly underpaid’, the tribunal report stated.

While he refused the £300,000 demand it was agreed she would get a £20,000 raise, to £180,000.

However, after the meeting she texted Mr Halloway-Churchill to ask him to help her find a new CEO job.

Following this meeting the working relationship between Ms Baksh and Mr Brocco broke down and he accused her of trying to ‘trap’ him by making inaccurate records of conversations, Mr Brocco’s witness statement stated.

The tribunal heard that on a trip to Greece Ms Baksh told a female colleague, Irene Kambouris, that Mr Brocco had ‘a problem with women’ and that she was ‘effectively on his hit list’.

In February 2022, just before a conference in Dubai, at a meeting in a hotel restaurant Ms Baksh once again requested a raise in her salary to £300,000.

She falsely told colleagues afterwards that the CEO had become enraged during the conversation, shouting at her to resign, reducing her to tears and knocking her handbag off the table.

The tribunal heard that Mr Brocco had been prepared to discuss moving forward at first but after speaking to other colleagues he realised Ms Baksh was ‘creating toxicity’ and there was no way to continue to work with her.

At the second meeting, held in the lobby of their Dubai hotel, Mr Brocco told Ms Baksh he was not going to give her a raise and he accepted her resignation.

However, to his surprise she she said she would not resign.

Mr Brocco said it would be better for her if she resigned rather than be dismissed.

But she did not quit and the following month she was fired, with the company citing a ‘complete loss of trust and confidence’ in her by Advanced Markets and Mr Brocco.

The tribunal dismissed Ms Baksh’s claims that she was sacked for raising the issues about regulatory compliance.

However, it did find she had not been given a ‘proper opportunity’ to put her case forward prior to dismissal.

Employment Judge Fiona McLaren said: ‘ In this case the employer failed to follow any process at all, [Ms Baksh] was simply summarily dismissed.’

‘However, due to her behaviour the tribunal decided to reduce her compensation by 100 per cent.

‘We have found that the facts which led to [Ms Baksh’s] dismissal had occurred, [she] had threatened to resign unless she received a substantial pay rise.’ EJ Mclaren said.

‘[Ms Baksh] had lied to colleagues about what occurred in the meeting between herself and the second respondent on February 20, [she] had unsettled another senior employee causing her to have concerns about her future with the business.

‘We conclude that her conduct was culpable and blameworthy, we conclude that it was her conduct that caused her dismissal.’