Ex-employee agrees to reduction of sex-harassment payout from Wall Street financier Benjamin Wey

A Swedish and former resident of Hong Kong has agreed to accept two-thirds reduction to an US$18 million jury award in a lawsuit against a New York financier she accused of sexual harassment and defamation, her lawyer said on Thursday.

A lawyer for Hanna Bouveng, an ex-employee of New York Global Group Chief Executive Officer Benjamin Wey, said he had informed a Manhattan federal judge that his client had agreed to accept the reduced sum of US$5.65 million rather than pursue a new damages trial.

US District Judge Paul Gardephe last week issued a ruling granting Wey a new damages trial unless Bouveng agreed to have her US$18 million award be cut to the reduced sum.

The June 2015 jury award against Wey and his companies followed a trial in a lawsuit accusing Wey of coercing Bouveng, a former model and resident of Hong Kong’s Discovery Bay, into having sex, refusing his further advances and defaming her in a series of blog posts.

“We decided her best interest was to accept” the reduction, said Benedict Morelli, her lawyer, adding the award “is not a measly sum”.

Edward Wipper, Wey’s lawyer, in an email said the recent proceedings were a “vindication of Mr Wey’s position and a positive initial step in rectifying an unjust result.”