Lloyd’s of London fines Atrium more than £1m for failing to tackle bullying

theguardian.com:

The insurance market Lloyd’s of London has issued the largest fine in its 336-year history after a member firm mishandled a bullying and harassment case and hosted an inappropriate “Boys’ Night Out” event for staff.

Lloyd’sannounced on Wednesday that it had fined Atrium Underwriters more than £1m due to “serious failures” by the firm, which was shown to have tolerated discrimination, harassment and bullying over a number of years.

One of the charges related to “a systematic campaign of bullying” against a junior staffer by a male employee whose behaviour was well known at the firm, including by senior managers who failed to take adequate steps to address the problem.

Atrium was also charged for “sanctioning and tolerating” an annual “Boys’ Night Out” where some male employees – including two senior executives – took part in inappropriate initiation games and heavy drinking, and made sexual comments about female colleagues that Lloyd’s said were both “discriminatory and harassing” to members of staff.

“Some of this conduct was led, participated in and condoned by the two senior managers in attendance,” Lloyd’s said. The parties took place annually for a number of years until 2018.

In relation to the bullying case, which took place during the same period, Atrium also failed to protect the junior staff member or the employee who complained. The employee was told to keep quiet about the case.

Instead, Atrium negotiated a settlement package with the bullying employee and allowed him to resign rather than face any repercussions. Lloyd’s said this was done in part to avoid bad publicity that could harm the business, which employs about 205 staff. Atrium was subsequently charged for failing to notify Lloyd’s about the misconduct,