A former senior executive at HSBC Holdings [Peter Lewis] who said that he was fired because he is gay is pressing a record discrimination claim in Britain in a case that will examine homophobia in the securities industry...HSBC denied wrongdoing and said that Lewis had been fired for "gross personal misconduct" after he allegedly sexually harassed another employee...The £5 million, or $8.8 million, compensation claim, which will be heard this week in London, comes after a series of sex discrimination cases have forced the finance industry to re-examine the treatment of women in the workplace...[refers also to Deutsche Bank]