Santander to pay $900,000 to settle pregnancy discrimination lawsuit

Santander will pay $900,000 to a former vice-president who alleged the bank cut her bonuses, removed her client accounts and terminated her employment because she was pregnant.

Erin McKenna, who was fired in November 2020, sued the bank in early 2021, claiming that she had been the victim of discrimination.

According to her complaint, McKenna, who worked in fixed income and emerging market sales, had two high-risk pregnancies between 2019 and 2020 and wanted to work from home.

Although the bank initially agreed to her request, Santander later told McKenna she would be fired if she did not return to the office, according to her complaint.

McKenna also alleged that the bank cut her annual bonus twice and took away most of her accounts when she returned from her first pregnancy, telling her she was “lucky” to receive even the reduced bonuses.

During her second pregnancy in 2020 she said she had asked again to work from home and was promptly fired, the complaint said.

McKenna said that she was “devastated” when Santander fired her, at which point she was three and a half months pregnant. She sued the bank and her former supervisor in Manhattan federal court for sex and pregnancy discrimination, and retaliation.

Santander agreed to pay $900,000 to resolve the case without accepting liability to cover McKenna’s economic damages, attorneys’ fees and costs.

Valdi Licul, a partner at law firm Wigdor, which represented McKenna, said: “All too often, employers act as if women can either be mothers or productive employees, but not both. Erin’s recovery sends a powerful message that such an attitude is against the law.”

McKenna added: “I hope this victory encourages other women, especially in finance, to find the courage to do the same.” 

Santander said it still believed McKenna’s claims were “without merit” but “recognising the time and expense associated with ongoing litigation, we have decided to take this action to expeditiously resolve this matter”.

It comes a few years after US investment bank Jefferies reached an agreement with Shabari Nayak, a former-vice president who claimed the lender had derailed her career once she became pregnant, and stripped her of bonuses for which she was eligible.

Nayak, who was also represented by Wigdor, settled for an undisclosed amount in 2018.