An employee of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, is bringing a case of gender discrimination against her employer. Elisabeth Bull Daae, the head of trading analytics at Norges Bank Investment Management, is seeking 16 million crowns ($1.54 million) in compensation and damages from the unit of the central bank managing the fund. The hearing is scheduled to begin on Wednesday in a court in Oslo, according to court documents.
In the documents submitted by her lawyer Sigurd Knudtzon, Daae alleges that she was paid less than her male colleagues who held equivalent positions for ten years. She also claims that she was asked by some male colleagues to perform menial tasks, such as changing soap in the men’s bathroom and checking the availability of fresh milk in a communal area.
The central bank, which advocates for the companies it invests in to promote gender diversity and eliminate all forms of discrimination, refutes the accusations made against it. This is the first such case for the largest investment fund, and individuals to be summoned as witnesses include central bank Governor Ida Wolden Bache, fund chief executive Nicolai Tangen, his deputy Trond Grande, and the fund’s chief investment officer, Geir Oeyvind Nygaard.
According to documents submitted to the court by the bank’s lawyer Jan Fougner, the fund has attempted to help Bull Daae and resolve the conflict for many years but was unsuccessful. A spokesperson for the fund described the situation as a “sad personnel matter” that has been ongoing for several years.
The fund has acknowledged its attempts to improve the relationship between the employer and employee, but asserts that it has “broken down”.
