'Stressed' city trader settles case

13 April 2012

A City trader who claimed she became suicidal through stress at work settled her High Court damages action on confidential terms today.

Helen McNallen, 36, had sued Commerzbank AG, which suspended her in January 2000 from her post as a £200,000-a-year Pan-European equity trader after she went home early and left her position uncovered - resulting in a loss of more than six million euros.

Ms McNallen, of Winchester Road, Strand, Petersfield, Hampshire, is now on long-term sick leave and receives 75% of her pre-bonus salary of £80,000 under the bank's permanent health insurance scheme.

She was not in court in London, on the third day of the action, to hear that the case had been "stayed" by agreement.

Martyn Barklem, for the bank, told Mr Justice Cresswell: "I'm happy to say that terms have been agreed without admission of liability that will mean that there is no further need to explore the very sensitive and personal matters involved in this case."

Ms McNallen's counsel, Timothy Briden, had argued that while the very high rewards of such jobs were the "quid pro quo" for the demands involved, that did not absolve defendants such as Commerzbank from providing a safe system of working for their employees to deal appropriately with the potential for stress-related injury.

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