London Solicitor to Pay £30K After Calling Indian Colleague 'Biryani' and Another 'Jabba the Hutt'

After admitting to assigning 'Pol Pot' and 'Jabba the Hutt' as inappropriate nicknames for colleagues, a City lawyer now faces a £31,000 fine from the solicitors' regulatory body.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority fined Benedict Foster, a former senior solicitor at BNP Paribas in London, £15,000 and ordered him to pay £16,000 in costs after he acknowledged using 'inappropriate' language in the workplace.

Offensive Nicknames Lead to Steep Fine

Appearing before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT), Foster admitted to referring to colleagues at the French bank by offensive nicknames, including 'Mad Paul' and 'the Twittering Fool'. The misconduct took place during his tenure as head of legal in its debt and equity capital markets division from December 2020 to September 2021.

In his statements to the SDT, Foster also acknowledged calling an East Asian colleague 'Hu She' and an Indian coworker 'Biriyani.' The City lawyer's names for his colleagues came to light during an internal investigation started by BNP Paribas in 2021 after a coworker filed a complaint during their departure discussion.

In March 2022, BNP Paribas shared the results of its investigation with the Solicitors Regulation Authority, according to a report by Telegraph. The bank and Foster then parted ways that same month. The submissions revealed that Foster used a variety of 'derogatory monikers' for his colleagues at BNP Paribas' London office in emails and video calls for nearly a year.

Foster's Apology And Explanation To The Tribunal

In his statements to the SDT, Foster acknowledged referring to his colleagues with different 'inappropriate' names, mostly without them knowing. He also recognised that these names would likely upset his coworkers if they discovered them, regardless of whether they shared his sense of humour.

In his defence, Foster claimed that 'Hu She' was meant to reference the 'Who He?' joke from Private Eye magazine, though he conceded it could be seen as 'mocking or ridiculing a traditional Chinese name.' He further maintained that the nickname 'Mad Paul' did not discredit his colleague's legal expertise.

Instead, he claimed that his repeated use of the 'offensive' name was related to his colleague's 'slightly cavalier approach to timekeeping, attendance at the office and his interpersonal skill.'

The SDT determined that Foster had not met the expected standards for solicitors, had acted without integrity, and had not fostered 'diversity, equity and inclusion' by using those offensive names.

Pandemic Stress Cited In Defense

During Tuesday's hearing, Jonathan Page, Foster's barrister, stated, 'Through me, [Foster] wishes to apologise and does so unreservedly . . . [he] never intended any offence and never intended to hurt anyone.'

Additionally, Page mentioned that Foster's statements were made during the 2020-2021 COVID-19 pandemic, a 'very stressful time' when people were 'by and large working from home.' He also cited the added 'stress' of BNP Paribas's new IT system integration.

The Cost Of Workplace Insults

As reported by the Financial Times, the fine emphasises the growing trend of UK regulatory bodies using their influence to combat non-financial misconduct in professional settings. While the tribunal can suspend or remove solicitors in the UK, they chose not to take those steps against Foster.

This case is similar to a 2022 ruling in which a former BNP Paribas employee in London received £2 million—then one of the UK's largest employment tribunal payouts—after judges found the bank had unfairly discriminated against her due to her gender.