A former Goldman Sachs executive has been awarded £1.45 million by an employment tribunal after it found he was unfairly dismissed and directly discriminated against because of his sex after taking extended parental leave.
Jonathan Reeves, a former senior vice president in Goldman Sachs' compliance control room, took six months of paid parental leave in 2022 following the birth of his second child under the bank's gender-neutral parental leave policy. Shortly before he was due to return to work, he was informed that his role was at risk of redundancy and was subsequently dismissed.
In a liability judgment issued in 2024, the London Central Employment Tribunal found that Reeves had been unfairly dismissed and directly discriminated against because of his sex. In a remedies judgment published in July 2026, the tribunal awarded him approximately £1.45 million in compensation, including damages for injury to feelings and past and future financial losses. The tribunal also found that the stigma associated with the litigation had significantly hampered Reeves' ability to secure comparable employment, noting that interviews had been cancelled, job offers withdrawn and prospective employers had subjected him to heightened scrutiny. Since his dismissal, Reeves had applied for 417 jobs, reached the interview stage for 43 and secured two fixed-term contracts.
The tribunal applied a 50% Polkey reduction, reflecting its conclusion that there was an even chance Reeves could have been fairly dismissed through a lawful redundancy process. Reeves had originally sought around £3.8 million in compensation.
Goldman Sachs said it strongly disagreed with the decision and described itself as a market leader in paid parental leave. The bank said it encourages all working parents, regardless of gender, to take the 26 weeks of paid parental leave it offers. It declined to say whether it would appeal the ruling.