An England lockdown 'Stay at home' sign
(Picture: PA Wire)A long-standing PA to a hedge fund tycoon was forced to quit her job after being pressurised to break Covid lockdown rules by travelling to work at his home, a tribunal has found.
Marie Herve worked for financier Ramy Goldstein, 72, and his family for 11 years but was forced out in November 2020 in the second national lockdown.
Ms Herve told her boss she feared a criminal conviction if she ignored the stay-at-home rule and would be working for him remotely. But she was then signed off sick and resigned on November 12, 2020 after Mr Goldstein told her “life and work must go on” and insisted she come to his home to work.
In emails revealed through an employment tribunal, Ms Herve told him: “I do not wish to act outside these new lockdown rules and break the law and I am confident that you would not wish to encourage me to do so.”
But Mr Goldstein insisted his home was “Covid-safe and compliant”, promised to conduct a risk-assessment, and told her: “Social distancing can be maintained to a very high degree.”
The hedge fund boss, found by the tribunal to have wrongly interpreted Covid rules, also suggested Ms Herve could travel on public transport when not in rush hour.
Ms Herve’s partner is asthmatic and was in an “at-risk” category during the pandemic. He had lost several friends and relatives to the virus. Ms Herve accused Mr Goldstein and his wife Smadar of contempt, hostility and disrespect after she raised Covid concerns. “I feel pressured to attend your workplace during the lockdown when I can adequately work remotely during this time as proven in the March 2020 national lockdown,” she wrote.
Ms Herve had begun working as a personal assistant for Mr Goldstein and Vipin Sareen, 64, the co-founders of hedge fund IV Capital in 2009.
She shared her time between the tycoons, but her activities for Mr Sareen had reduced by 2020 as he was mainly living in France.
Ms Herve told the hearing she did not know how to use the ventilation system, and she was concerned about Covid transmission due to the Goldsteins’ frequent travel and large gatherings for Friday night dinner.
The Goldsteins accepted that they were not diligent about wearing masks when working close to the claimant, employment Judge Natasha Joffe noted.
The tribunal upheld Ms Herve’s claims that she had been unfairly told to resign with Mr Sareen after quitting the Goldsteins, and she was wrongly accused of damaging his business and unprofessional conduct. Mr Sareen, who was found to have unfairly dismissed Ms Herve, was ordered to pay her £13,573 in unpaid wages from March to November 2020. A hearing to decide the level of payout from both businessmen has been set for March 2023.
