Fired for Needing Sleep? Trainee Wins Settlement in Investment Bank Dispute Over Job Accommodation Request

A sleep specialist says the employee was within her rights to set boundaries with her company, and warns other employers to take notice.

BY KAYLA WEBSTER, STAFF EDITOR

Illustration: Inc; Photo: Getty Images

A lack of sleep will cost you at work, since fatigue makes it hard to concentrate and focus on the job. A shuteye deficit is also costing a New York investment bank that fired a trainee banker for telling managers she needed eight to nine hours of sleep every night due to a medical condition—rehashing a debate over work-life balance and worker protections for reasonable accommodations at the office.

Centerview Partners, a boutique bank focused on mergers and acquisitions, didn’t disclose the terms of the settlement with ex-employee Kathryn Shiber, which was reached the night before the scheduled Feb. 23 trial date. Business Insider reported on the suit, noting that Centerview would have to convince a New York jury that being available in the wee hours of the morning was crucial to Shiber’s role. Despite agreeing to settle, the bank told the news site that it would have won the case.

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

It’s possible Centerview hoped to avoid a more serious outcome. Back in 2024, a 35-year-old intern at Bank of America died in the midst of a rigorous training program that involved long hours. The news sprouted discussion around treatment of junior employees in this demanding field.

Shiber requested the accommodation for an anxiety disorder and was terminated “weeks” after the request, Business Insider reported. She started at the bank in July 2020, but it’s unclear when the incident took place. Shiber’s lawyers did not comment.

For Dr. Shelby Harris, sleep expert at BetterSleep, a sleep and mediation app, the situation that led to the lawsuit is alarming. The employee’s assertion that she needs eight to nine hours of sleep “is absolutely within normal, evidence-based guidelines,” she said.

“My initial reaction was that this case highlights a broader cultural misunderstanding about sleep,” Harris told Inc. “Eight to nine hours of sleep isn’t indulgent, it’s necessary. Especially when someone discloses a medical condition requiring consistent sleep, it should be regarded as a health requirement.”

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