Lloyd’s fines Atrium Underwriting more than £1m for bullying and harassment

Lloyd’s has fined Atrium Underwriters more than £1m for charges of bullying and harassment, the largest fine ever imposed by the Lloyd’s Enforcement Board (LEB). Lloyd’s said that in its view, there was “a culture which tolerated instances of unacceptable conduct involving discrimination, harassment and bullying”. Atrium Underwriters has accepted three charges of detrimental conduct relating to non-financial misconduct by Atrium employees and the way in which Atrium responded to allegations of such misconduct. Atrium was fined £1.05m and paid Lloyd’s’ costs of £562,713.50. John Neal, Lloyd’s CEO, said: “We are deeply disappointed by the behaviour highlighted by this case and I want to be clear that discrimination, harassment and bullying have no place at Lloyd’s. The robust action we have taken today, including the largest fine ever imposed by the Lloyd’s Enforcement Board, shows that we will not tolerate poor conduct in our market.” He added: “Lloyd’s expects all participants in the market to meet the highest standards of professionalism, and we are continuing to use our powers to intervene when needed. Everyone in the Lloyd’s market and Corporation should expect to work in a culture where they feel safe, valued and respected, and if they see unacceptable behaviours, to speak up with confidence, in the knowledge that action will be taken.” The Lloyd’s Market Association (LMA) said the judgement and penalties send an unequivocal message that bullying, harassment and other forms of inappropriate behaviour have no place in the Lloyd’s market. The Notice of Censure issued by the LEB detailed a systematic campaign of bullying against a junior employee over a number of years by another employee, whose general conduct was well known within Atrium, including by senior managers. But no adequate steps were taken to deal with the problem. Lloyd’s said Atrium failed adequately to protect the junior employee once it became aware of the bullying. Atrium failed to take disciplinary action against the employee, even though its own investigation made findings of serious misconduct against him and recommended disciplinary action. Instead, Atrium negotiated a settlement package and allowed him to resign rather than face disciplinary sanction. Lloyd’s said this was motivated in part by the desire of a senior manager to protect Atrium from bad publicity, as well as to limit the impact on the business unit involved. In a separate issue, Atrium was censured for “sanctioning and tolerating over a period of a number of years up until 2018, an annual ‘boys’ night out’ during which some male members of staff (including two senior executives in leadership roles) engaged in unprofessional and inappropriate conduct, including initiation games, heavy drinking and making inappropriate and sexualised comments about female colleagues, which were both discriminatory and harassing to female members of staff.” Lloyd’s noted that in agreeing the level of the fine, the LEB “has accepted a 30% discount on the fine that it would have applied”, adding: “This is because Atrium settled these proceedings at the earliest opportunity. Without the discount, the fine would have been £1,500,000.” Christopher Stooke, independent non-executive chairman at Atrium, said: “We fully accept the rulings made by Lloyd’s of London. With deep regret, it is clear that Atrium failed to live up to its values and serious errors were made when handling these matters. We are sorry for the hurt that this caused and how difficult this been for those affected. The behaviour outlined in the Notice of Censure has no place in our business or our industry, and we recognise that we must go further to ensure that this situation is never allowed to happen again.” He added that Atrium has worked closely with Lloyd’s throughout the process and appointed an independent third party to review the allegations and make recommendations on actions to the Atrium board, which are now being implemented. Andrew Brooks, chairman of the LMA, said: “We support Lloyd’s for its decisiveness on the matter and the unprecedented level of the fine, which demonstrates the market’s commitment to fostering better cultures. Any individual or organisation which threatens this or condones those who do, must now recognise that there will be severe consequences.” He added: “We applaud those individuals who had the courage to speak up. To stamp out this behaviour, we need people like them who come forward and we need to ensure that we cultivate a supportive environment across the market, which encourages anyone who experiences or witnesses bullying, harassment or similar inappropriate conduct to speak up.”

Lloyd’s fines Atrium Underwriting more than £1m for bullying and harassment

Culture at managing agent tolerated discrimination, harassment and bullying

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