A city high-flier won close to (pounds) 1m High Court damages yesterday over the bullying that drove him out of his top job.
In a case that has far-
reaching implications, Steven Horkulak, a 39-year-old father-of-three, was awarded (pounds) 912,000 plus interest against the money brokers, Cantor Fitzgerald International. Mr Justice Newman also ordered Cantor, the world's largest inter-dealer broker, to pay (pounds) 100,000 on account towards Mr Horkulak's costs bill, which currently stands at (pounds) 250,000.
Mr Horkulak, of Chislehurst, Kent, claimed that Cantor's president, Brooklyn-born Lee Amaitis, screamed obscenities at him on a regular basis for six months up to his constructive dismissal in June 2000.
He gave evidence that his 53-year-old chief, who was not in court yesterday, threatened to ''break him into two'' and ''rip (his) head off''.
He said afterwards: ''I am delighted that the court has recognised both the culture of bullying and abuse at Cantor, to which I was subjected over a long period, and the harm that I have suffered.''
Mr Horkulak earned (pounds) 400,000 subject to bonus as senior managing director and head of global interest rate derivatives. He said that he hoped that Cantor's US heads would accept that there were ''deep-rooted problems'' within its London office.
Cantor, which strongly denied breach of contract and bullying, said that it would seek permission to appeal.
It said that Mr Horkulak, who is now head of euro interest rate swops with Tullet plc, walked out because of a long history of stress at work, with associated personality problems.
The judge rejected as ''fallacious'' the proposition that where very substantial sums were paid by an employer, he acquired a right to treat employees according to a different standard of conduct from that which might otherwise be required.
He added: ''Threats of dismissal should not be used to intimidate. Nor should they be issued in intemperate
language.''
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