Published on:
10 Nov 2025
3
min read
Kampus Production; https://www.pexels.com/photo/group-of-businesswomen-having-a-meeting-8171188/.
First, a recap:
KS joined a prestigious analyst program with an investment banking firm (the "Firm"). She was put on her first live deal and pulled a few late nights. She then disclosed to HR that she needed 8 - 9 hours of sleep consistently every night because of medical condition.
The Firm put in place an accommodation that KS would not work between 12 am and 9 am each day. But about 2 weeks later, her employment was terminated.
She sued - for over $5 million in damages.
The Firm applied for summary judgment against KS, but did not succeed. The matter appears headed for trial.
In this and subsequent posts, I'll share some reflections and takeaways for both employers and employees.
--
1️⃣ Was the Firm justified in its actions?
I'm going to start with a controversial take:
I do have a fair amount of sympathy for the Firm.
Up until the point when the Firm terminated KS' employment, it seems to me that it did all the right things.
It listened to KS with respect, immediately escalated the issue to relevant management, told her that "her health was the firm's top priority", put an accommodation in place the very same day that KS raised the issue, and respected the privacy of her medical information.²
The Firm appears to then have made an assessment as to whether KS could perform the essential functions of her job, before deciding to terminate her employment.
A dispute does remain as to whether an investment banking analyst must be able to pull late nights at short notice in order to fulfil the essential functions of their job.³ Because if not, the termination of her employment may have been discriminatory. And just because a particular practice is "normal" does not necessarily mean that it's the only way to do things.
But at first glance, it's not immediately obvious to me that the Firm is the bad guy in this story.
And the unfortunate takeaway for all employers out there is this:
You can do what you think is right, and still get into trouble and get sued.
So don't be too quick to assume that this is a situation that is easily kept under control, and for which you don't require external advice.
--
In part 5, I'll consider matters from the employee's perspective.
Disclaimer:
The content of this article is intended for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
¹ Part 1: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/khelvin-xu_footnotes-employment-law-activity-7382263864177946625-Zymk/
Part 2: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/khelvin-xu_footnotes-employment-law-activity-7384439097064534018-luAW/
Part 3:https://www.linkedin.com/posts/khelvin-xu_footnotes-employment-law-activity-7389511372440711168-5l_5/
² These facts are extracted from the USDC SDNY's Opinion & Order: https://cases.justia.com/federal/district-courts/new-york/nysdce/1:2021cv03649/559015/139/0.pdf?ts=1759614745.
I just realised, to my horror, that we're already in part 4 but this is the first time I'm providing my source. So, here it is, and lest you think I'm just making this all up.
³ And this is not an easy question to answer!
For example, if the Firm says that "this is an essential function of an analyst's job because our partners expect it", that might not be a particularly attractive argument.
But what if the Firm says "our clients come to us because they expect top-notch service and lightning-quick turnaround times, and if our analysts are not prepared to pull all-nighters where necessary, we will lose our clients to our competitors"? Does this make all-nighters an essential function of an analyst's job? I don't know!
