A top City lawyer may be in line for a record payout after an appeals tribunal backed her sex discrimination claim yesterday. The woman is seeking £19 million from fund manager F&C Asset Management for subjecting her to what she describes as an 18-month campaign of bullying and harrassment.

Lawyers said the size of her claim - more than 135 times her salary - wea symptopmantic of a climate in which ever-increasing sums were sought in City employment disputes.