BREAKINGVIEWS-Centerview's sleep trial is banking wake-up call

By Sebastian Pellejero

NEW YORK, Feb 20 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Wall Street's oldest rite of passage is under unusually literal scrutiny. A trial involving boutique advisor Centerview Partners, due to start in a New York federal court next week, hinges on whether junior investment banking analysts are entitled to a full night's sleep. The question is neat, but misleading. Investment banks have always sold employees' time as much as their advice, and compensated them handsomely for it. The risk is not overwork, but failing to be clear about that bargain.

Kathryn Shiber, a former Centerview analyst, alleges the firm breached disability law by firing her several weeks after she requested a nine-hour nightly sleep window to accommodate an anxiety and mood disorder, according to court documents. Centerview's position is that advising corporate and financial clients requires its analysts to be available at all times, and Shiber's proposal proved incompatible with that demand.

The real question isn't about sleep, but whether the job can be reshaped. Junior bankers routinely log 80-to-100 hour weeks during deal sprints. High turnover among analysts is less a policy failure than a feature. Banks hire in cohorts expecting many to leave after a few years. Those who endure often move into private equity, hedge funds, or corporate roles where employers prize the discipline and stamina instilled by late nights grappling with spreadsheets and presentations.

It's not just junior bankers who suffer interrupted bedtimes. Other professions from nursing to trucking demand brutal hours without Wall Street pay. First-year bankers at top firms can clear $150,000 to $220,000 a year. Juniors may want better work-life balance or consideration, but as fictional adman Don Draper famously put it:"That's what the money is for."

In broad strokes, the bargain is legal. U.S. federal wage law does not cap hours for adults, and the Fair Labor Standards Act governs overtime rules for non-exempt workers, not salaried professionals. The Americans with Disabilities Act does not outlaw punishing schedules, but requires reasonable accommodations unless they prevent performance of essential job functions, or impose undue hardship.

The ADA is less a bedtime charter than a paperwork test. Employers must engage with the employee, document the request and options, and reach a disciplined yes-or-no. Ambiguity can turn a demanding job into a lawsuit. Some bulge-bracket firms are now counting: Bank of America has pushed juniors into logging hours after the sudden death of an investment banker in 2024 revived scrutiny of excessive hours.

Centerview's strongest case is both cultural and commercial. Being responsive at odd times is part of working on live transactions, like Paramount Skydance's PSKY.O $108 billion bid for Warner Bros Discovery WBD.O. A guarantee of uninterrupted sleep clashes with a rapid response when a client, counterparty, or board chair changes course at short notice. If banks believe round-the-clock responsiveness is an essential function, they should make that clear on day one.

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CONTEXT NEWS

Kathryn Shiber sued Centerview Partners for disability discrimination after the boutique investment bank fired her from her job as a junior analyst shortly after granting her a guaranteed nine-hour period in which to sleep each night, according to court documents. A jury trial is due to start in a federal court in New York on February 23.

Centerview has said long and often unpredictable work hours are a consequence of the job of an investment banker, and that the guaranteed window was designed as only a short-term solution when Shiber first mentioned her needs.