A Nigerian lawyer based in the United Kingdom has been fined £45,000 for allegedly making erotic remarks at a female job applicant.
A solicitors disciplinary tribunal panel fined Mr Nwosu £20,000 for his alleged conduct and ordered him to pay £23,550 costs, reports Daily Mail.
The 22-year-old victim quoted Nwosu, 48, as saying to her “Mmm, I like what I see” during the interview.
She said the Nigerian informed her that “I only employ beautiful women” and asked whether she had a boyfriend.
The candidate, who has a first-class degree and a masters, had applied to be a paralegal. She claimed she was in tears after the interview.
She said, “Nwosu undressed me with his eyes and I felt like a piece of meat.”
“He said I was very, very beautiful. He told me that I have to wear skirts when I come into work, he doesn’t like it when women wear trousers,” she was quoted to have said while narrating the incident to her friends.
The woman, however, rejected his offer of a job at DCK Solicitors in north London and reported the alleged incident to prevent other women from being in a “similar position.”
However, Nwosu denied all the allegations, saying he was happily married. He called the case “female activism gone wrong.”
He added: “She has the power, that’s why I am here [because] she’s applied overt activism [and] I am the victim. She’s embarrassed me and brought me here, she has the power.”
The Nigerian said it would be “rude” for the tribunal to believe the woman over him, “a solicitor of the Supreme Court.”
But the panel found his remarks had “sexual connotations.”
