The character of Zwarte Piet is at the centre of a British lawyer’s claim for racial discrimination against Dutch bank ABN Amro in London, the Daily Mail reports.

Senior lawyer Angela Cobbina says she was ‘frozen out’ of Dutch banking giant ABN Amro and is suing for sex, race and religious discrimination.

She told an employment tribunal on Monday the bank’s chief executive in the UK, Paul Schilwerve, made repeated racist comments at her expense, the Daily Mail reports.

Petition

Cobbina is suing the bank for a reported £300,000 for sex, race and religious discrimination over claims she was a victim of a ‘campaign’ of harassment.

She told the tribunal Schilwerze ‘taunted’ her about her race after one of their colleagues described himself as the ‘black sheep of the family’. ‘Speaking of that, what about Blackfriars? Let’s talk about all things black. Is Blackfriars the same as Blackadder,’ he is reported to have said.

Schilwerve strongly denies allegations of racism. During the hearing he was quizzed about his attitude to race after it emerged he ‘liked’ the petition to keep the Zwarte Piet parades on his Facebook page.

Schilwerve said the aim of the page, liked by over one million people, was to protect a popular childrens’ event and had nothing to do with race.

The tribunal continues.