A security manager of African descent who was referred to by a white colleague as his ‘slave’ has been awarded £361,000, at an employment tribunal.
In April 2022, the claimant resigned from Vigilant Security after raising grievances alleging he was subject to continuous bullying and racism.
The tribunal heard that Vigilant Security had a ‘striking imbalance’ between racial profiles as guards were mainly from ethnic minority groups and managers were largely white. The Operations Director for Vigilant Security told the tribunal that real efforts had been made to redress this imbalance, but none had succeeded.
In one incident dating back to June 2011, the tribunal heard that the chief engineer had referred to the claimant as his ‘slave’ whilst in the security office in the presence of other employees. The panel said:
‘This extraordinary remark was apparently intended to be humorous and was delivered in a jocular manner. Not surprisingly, the claimant was embarrassed and offended.’
In another incident during the same year, a colleague made a Nazi salute whilst shouting ‘Heil Hitler’. In 2012, the Operations Manager asked the claimant where he had learned his English, which he regarded as offensive. The judge found the remark was materially influenced by the claimant’s race.
In April 2016, the claimant applied for promotion and did not receive an acknowledgement of his application. The judge commented:
‘The gross racial imbalance within the managerial cohort lends support to the claimant’s perception of a culture in which it is an accepted norm that visible ethnic minority staff populate the lower orders of the organisation and management is confined to white men.’
The tribunal found that the claimant suffered an ‘obvious detriment’ when his promotion application was ignored, and that his race was, at the very least, a material factor. The judge stated:
‘In our view, the claimant has done enough to transfer the burden of proof to the respondent. That being so, our finding is inevitable. For want of any evidence to disprove discrimination, we find that the claimant’s race was, at the very least, a material factor in the failure to engage with and process his promotion application.’
The tribunal found that most of the acts which constituted discrimination were out of time, having occurred between 5 and 10 years earlier, and therefore the claims of race discrimination and harassment failed. However, the claimant succeeded in his claims for victimisation and unfair (constructive) dismissal on the basis of the respondent’s actions during the grievance process, including its removal of his mobile phone and disconnecting his email address, and then suspending him and requiring him to attend a disciplinary hearing regarding unparticularised allegations of wrongdoing. The tribunal found these to be detriments relating to the fact that he had raised complaints of discrimination and harassment, and that they were the cause of his resignation. The claimant was awarded £361,000 which included £25,000 for injury to feeling and £15,000 for personal injury.
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