(Bloomberg) -- An ex-Barclays Plc banker who won a discrimination lawsuit after her boss described women as “birds” is seeking as much as £1.3 million ($1.6 million) in compensation from the bank. 

Anca Lacatus, who worked as an analyst at Barclays from 2016 until she was dismissed in 2020, won the 2021 suit after judges ruled she had been the victim of direct sex discrimination. She also won a claim that the bank failed to adjust her working hours despite having a disability. 

At a London hearing on Tuesday Lawyers for Lacatus asked judges to grant more than £1.3 million in compensation, including losses to future earnings, according to documents prepared for the case. Awards for discrimination at the UK’s employment tribunal are unlimited, while unfair dismissal is capped at £105,700.

Lacatus alleged that her manager used the word “birds” to refer to women over a number of months, and didn’t stop when she told him to. A panel of judges ruled that this was “plainly sexist,” despite the manager believing it was “light-hearted banter,” according to the judgment. 

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“As a woman, these comments ate away at my confidence and made me feel like I was on the backfoot and I needed to do more to earn the respect of my male colleagues,” she said in a witness statement prepared for the hearing. 

Barclays was also reprimanded by judges for making her work excessive hours despite asking for a reduction due to suffering from debilitating symptoms of endometriosis. She later found out her job was being made redundant in 2019 while she was on sick leave. 

Lacatus argued that if Barclays had not discriminated against her she would still have been employed in the industry and would be working in the investment banking sector until retirement. 

A Barclays spokesperson declined to comment. Lawyers for the bank will present their arguments on remedies later in the hearing this week.

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