Banker 'asked colleague for sex'

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A manager at HBOS bank repeatedly asked a female colleague for sex while they were on a business trip, an employment tribunal in Leeds has heard.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said he had drunk 10 pints at the time of the alleged incident in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire in 1998.

The tribunal heard how Haley Tansey, now 39, who is claiming sexual harassment, turned down his advances.

The man said she had been drinking and "flirting" with him earlier on.

However, she would not let him in when he asked to come into her hotel room, he said.

The married manager then told the tribunal that Ms Tansey answered her door with no top on when he went up later.

'Traumatised'

Ms Tansey, a former HBOS business manager from Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, denies this allegation.

The unnamed manager, who worked at HBOS offices in Halifax and Leeds, said: "The first thing I said to her was to suggest we have sex.

"Haley said no, she couldn't."

He told the hearing that Ms Tansey told him to "forget about it" after the incident, and said he was astonished when it was brought up again more than a decade later.

Earlier in the tribunal Ms Tansey said there had been a tolerance of sexual behaviour at HBOS and that she had been traumatised by the hotel incident.

She denied claims she was claiming sexual harassment at the bank simply to secure £600,000.

Ms Tansey is also claiming discrimination and constructive dismissal.

She told the hearing that she had not brought a formal complaint earlier because she was worried about the implications.

The tribunal continues.