City analyst loses sex discrimination case

The media analyst Louise Barton declared it a "sad day for women in the City" as she lost a sex discrimination case against a leading investment bank yesterday.

Ms Barton, 52, claimed she was underpaid by £1m compared with a male colleague, and took her employer – Investec Henderson Crosthwaite Securities – to an employment tribunal. But yesterday, after three months of deliberation following a four-day hearing, the tribunal ruled against her claim of sexual discrimination and unequal pay.

"Women remain in the minority and will continue to be subject to prejudicial behaviour unless there are great changes in calculating remuneration packages," Ms Barton said. Her solicitor said Ms Barton was "considering the grounds for an appeal".

Ms Barton, of Fulham, west London, had 23 years' experience in UK fund management when she joined Investec in 1990 as a research analyst in the media sector. She brought her case when she discovered that Matthew Horsman, a former financial journalist at The Independent whom she had recruited in 1997, was paid nearly twice as much in salary and bonuses. However, the central London tribunal found the variation between Ms Barton and Mr Horsman "was genuinely due to a material factor, which is not the difference of sex".