A Romanian accountant sued PwC for £40 million compensation and got £750

An accountant of Romanian origin living in Great Britain got compensations worth of only £750 after she sued PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in London for racial discrimination at work, The Telegraph reads. The woman requested record compensations worth of £40 millions.

Mihaela Popa, a 31-year old Romanian, worked as judiciary accountant for PwC in London between 2004 and 2006. The woman declared that while she was hired by the company, she was constantly the victim of racial attacks and that the treatment she received was increasingly unbearable and she had to resign in November 2006.

Popa claimed that she was constantly ignored when it came to promotions and she was asked to handle small details, like filing, while her Brit colleagues with less qualifications received more important tasks. One of her bosses argued that someone was needed to clean up.

The Romanian also said she was made to feel like a prostitute because she came from East Europe and her co-workers and even managers would answer her questions with sexual allusions. Plus, Popa claims that one of her colleagues thought she was a communist spy and that she was working undercover for the Securitate.

She now says she’s suffering of severe depression, which ruined her accountant career. Central London Employment Tribunal rejected her request, noting that her boss only made the statement once and this aspect did not prevent Popa to secure a job with Credit Suisse, for £66,000-a-year.

The judges also showed that the „victimisation” did not make her running into financial losses and the case can be qualified as „simply a case of injury to feelings”. The Romanian sued PwC two years ago, but lost the trial. PricewaterhouseCoopers is presently trying to recover the costs of the trials from Popa, estimated by The Telegraph to be worth of several hundred thousands pounds.