In July 2019, Colin Sorby (a white Briton) started as a production worker in the curry factory of Bradford Management Services – a subsidiary of Mumtaz Foods. The company makes and supplies meals to Indian restaurants and supermarkets in the UK.
Three months later, Colin was called aside by his supervisor, Azheem Akhtar, who is originally from Pakistan, had worked there for over 15 years, and described himself as a “friend” of company director, Bilal Akbar.
Azheem told Colin it was an Asian firm where he “had to work faster”, and that Colin couldn’t cook Asian food properly, so he should go and work for an English company. Colin sent a text to the HR department, asking them to speak to Azheem about this stereotypical remark.
Three weeks after making the complaint, Colin met HR manager, Paulo Silva, to discuss a faulty machine he’d reported. In this conversation, no concerns were raised about his attendance or performance, nor was there any mention of Colin having problems in following Asian recipes.
Most weeks, Colin worked considerable hours on a zero-hours contract. But, four days after meeting Paulo, he was put “on call” and told he would not be offered any more work despite the fact that the company had been hiring new labour. He was asked to clear his locker, hand in company property, and advised to look for another job.
He had effectively been dismissed, so Colin made a claim of racial discrimination, harassment and victimisation.
What happened
At the tribunal, Paulo the action was taken because Azheem had made allegations against Colin’s performance. Colin believed there was no evidence, and that it was actually retribution for the complaint he’d made against Azheem.
Azheem said the offensive remark was a misunderstanding due to language difficulties. However, at the tribunal, he started answering a question in perfectly comprehensible English. Also, Azheem claimed he had apologised after the event. However, the tribunal did not accept this as no disciplinary action had been taken against him. In fact, the judge found Azheem to be an “unreliable witness” who was vague and evasive.
The tribunal therefore ruled the comment was not trivial or unintended, and had violated Colin’s dignity. Colin won his claims, and compensation will be awarded at a later date.
What this means to you
Your employer should ensure that employees follow equality and diversity practices, not just publish them in the company handbook. If they don’t, and you suffer ill-treatment because of a protected characteristic, you may be able to make a claim and win compensation.
When Colin raised his grievance, the company didn’t take action in response. Also, when Colin was called to a gross misconduct meeting relating to an incident in the canteen, they failed to interview witnesses beforehand or give him notification of the meeting.
The company handbook had an equal opportunity policy, but failed to train employees in equality and diversity and didn’t monitor the effectiveness of diversity measures in the workplace.
If you’re in a situation like Colin’s, talk to us, and we’ll let you know your options.
Further reading
- I was refused a job because I’m a white man. Can I lodge a claim?
- I’m paid less because of my race
- Race discrimination at work
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