A writ lodged with the District Court, made available on Monday and seen by the Post, said the claimant, who was recruited from overseas, was gradually removed from her original role and given “menial tasks” after she told Lai to stop touching her.
The woman was recruited by the bank to expand its agency and trustee services in South Korea, which involved monthly business trips to the country’s capital Seoul, the writ said.
But it added that two weeks after the claimant spoke out against Lai’s unwelcome advances, she was moved to sales support and asked to take weekly meeting notes, handle price quotes and attend client meetings.
Lai is alleged to have said he was “too busy and could no longer pay as much attention to Korea as a market as [he] did to other countries” when the woman demanded an explanation for her transfer.
He was said to have added the claimant “could reconsider whether it was time to consider other job opportunities” if she was having difficulties in her new role.
The writ said the bank ended the woman’s contract last August because of “poor sales performance”, despite her passing a three-month probation period and setting up more than 10 meetings with Korean banking clients and law firms.
It added she was “forced to resign” the same day she was told of the decision to end her employment.
“The sudden termination came as a shock to the claimant as the claimant had all along been under the impression given by the respondent that she would have a year to develop the Korean market,” her lawyers said.
“But the termination came less than six months after the claimant joined [the bank] and only a week after her meeting with the respondent.”
The writ added attempts to negotiate with the bank’s human resources department failed, despite the claimant’s attempt to highlight the “suspicious circumstances” of her case and Lai’s “wrongful acts”.
She also complained about “physical, psychological and emotional distress and damage” including gastritis, problems with sleeping, vertigo and signs of depression.
The claimant has asked the court for a written apology from Lai and an unspecified sum in damages for loss of earnings, medical expenses and loss of reputation as a result of the alleged breach of the Sex Discrimination Ordinance.
The first hearing in the case is scheduled for August.
