CSS max-height property ignored by wrapper element

<div id="slide-table-wrapper">
  <mat-table #slideTable class="fixed-height">
  ...  

$max-table-height: calc(100% - 120px); // 120px is the height of the controls + paginator
mat-table.fixed-height {
  max-height: $max-table-height;
  overflow-y: auto;
}