Suemaya Gerrard, a relationship manager at Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, said her boss, Jawdat Jawdat, wanted her to entertain the client to land his $32.2 million account. Gerrard is suing her boss’ firm for sex discrimination, sexual harassment and constructive dismissal.
Gerrard quit the firm in November and is seeking $103,102. After politely declining the dinner invite, Gerrard said she told the client that her boss should join them all for lunch instead. But she said the client rejected the idea saying, “I want to drop you home and have a present I want to give you.”
Gerrard also said the client persisted even though she is married with children. Jawdat "told me that I had to accept the dinner invitation and not lunch and he threatened me by saying, 'if you cancel or call off sick I will sack you,'" Gerrard said. "I replied that he knew I was a married woman with children and that I could not do it. Jawdat then stated I was in the wrong profession."
Jawdat and the bank deny Gerrard’s allegations. "Regardless of gender, regardless of customer, we always interact with customers and we always dine with customers…that’s exactly what happened that day," Jawdat said.