Published: 4:06pm, 21 Jul 2025Updated: 4:23pm, 21 Jul 2025
A former HSBC employee in Hong Kong has sued the bank for alleged racial discrimination, maintaining that he was excluded from meetings, had his bonuses reduced and was ultimately sacked because of his black heritage.
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Former senior business analyst Robert Ngugi Tomkinson claimed an unspecified amount of damages for reputational damage, emotional distress and financial loss against HSBC Global Services (Hong Kong) in the legal action commenced at the District Court on Friday under the Race Discrimination Ordinance.
The former employee said he had consistently displayed professional conduct in his position and received favourable annual ratings since joining the bank in November 2019.
According to the writ, which the Post inspected on Monday, the claimant became the subject of “sustained and differential treatment” since the arrival of a new manager in April 2024, prompting him to file a formal internal complaint five months later.
On February 11 this year, an internal investigation partially upheld Tomkinson’s complaint after finding his manager had acted “inappropriately”, including disclosing his performance status to irrelevant third parties.
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The bank said the investigation had not uncovered any signs of racial discrimination.