Bank boss being sued £13m for 'standing on breast and saluting pals'

A British banking boss faces a £13million sex damages claim after allegedly stamping on a female colleague’s breast during a tango on the trading floor. Marcus Bolton is accused of wrestling Jessica Franqui to the ground then standing on her. She says it left her short of breath and ‘violated’. Mr Bolton, the 45-year-old British chief executive of a New York broking company, is being sued for sexual battery and discrimination.

Miss Franqui, 27, an administration clerk, says Mr Bolton was ‘intoxicated’ when he grappled with her during a meeting on January 6. She was the only woman on the trading floor at the time. Her 11-page writ states he ‘immediately and without warning spun and dipped’ her ‘backwards into a vulnerable position’ holding her close to his face and body against her will’.



He then allegedly allowed her to fall to the floor, before he stood on her right breast and ‘looked at the male employees in the room and pumped his fists in the air in a victorious manner’. Miss Franqui says she told him: ‘I can’t believe you were standing on my chest.’ Mr Bolton is accused of replying: ‘Oh, come on now, they are big and you probably didn’t even feel it.’ Miss Franqui has been off work since the incident at Tullett Prebon Americas Corp’s New York offices near Wall Street.

Her lawyers say Mr Bolton’s behaviour was ‘so vile and shocking that it warrants punitive damages’. The writ also describes Mr Bolton as ‘sexually motivated, hostile and humiliating towards women in general’. Miss Franqui has filed a claim for £12.9million in compensation, against both Mr Bolton and his employers. They both contest the allegations.