Junior Banker Settles Lawsuit With Employer Over The Right To Sleep

On Feb. 22, former junior banker Kathryn Shiber and boutique investment bank Centerview Partners put the matter to bed.

A former investment banking trainee who said she was fired after requesting time to sleep at least eight hours a night has reached a settlement with her former employer.

On Feb. 22, former junior banker Kathryn Shiber and boutique investment bank Centerview Partners put the matter to bed for an undisclosed amount. Shiber filed the lawsuit claiming the firm terminated her employment after she disclosed that a mood and anxiety disorder required her to maintain a consistent sleep schedule. In order to help manage her condition, Shiber required a consistent eight hours of sleep each night.

According to the lawsuit, Shiber joined the firm in 2020 as part of a three-year analyst training program. However, she was dismissed approximatley 10 weeks later. She alleged that the termination came shortly after she informed the company that her medical condition required a stable sleep routine as a workplace accommodation.

Shiber initially sought millions of dollars in damages in the lawsuit, Inc. reported. She alleged disability discrimination and wrongful termination. Yet, according to reports, Shiber’s disability was undiagnosed at the time of her accommodation request. The legal dispute was scheduled to go to trial Feb. 23, the day after both sides reached a settlement agreement. Still, Centerview Partners claimed that had they taken the suit to trial they would have prevailed.

“We were ready to prove that in court, and are confident we would have prevailed at trial,” the bank said in a statement. “But we are nonetheless happy to put this distraction behind us and focus on delivering for our clients.”

Terms of the settlement were not publicly disclosed. Centerview Partners continues to deny wrongdoing and had previously said it believed the claims lacked merit but chose to resolve the case before trial.