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Northern Ireland
Lee Karl Graham v Fyfes Vehicle and Engineering Supplies Limited
Decision Number: Legal Body: Northern Ireland Industrial Tribunal
Published on: 24/03/2016
Issues Covered:
Discrimination
Article Authors The main content of this article was provided by the following authors.
John Taggart BL Lecturer and Barrister
Background

The claimant worked for the respondent as a counter sales assistant. An ongoing theme of his employment were errors made in relation to routine matters and issues in relation to timekeeping, attendance and time spent on his mobile phone. The claimant was initially given a verbal warning which led to a performance improvement plan and his employment was eventually terminated after a disciplinary hearing. 

The tribunal concluded that the dismissal of the claimant fell within the band of reasonable responses and was not unfair and in fact the respondent showed a great deal of care in complying with the statutory procedures. However, the claimant also alleged that he had been continuously abused on the basis of his English nationality and said this made him feel like "an alien". The respondent did not deny that comments of this nature were made but that they were only ever "banter" which were harmlessly traded among staff. The tribunal held that not only did the respondent not stop such comments, but managers were actively involved in racial comments towards the claimant. The tribunal held that the claimant suffered unlawful discrimination by the respondent on grounds of his race and awarded £4,000 for injury to feelings.

Practical Lessons

The respondent's defence that comments relating to the claimant's nationality were "banter" and "light hearted" were not enough to satisfy the tribunal that it did not amount to less favourable treatment. A key point was that no other workers or staff were subjected to such comments and the tribunal agreed that the claimant found these sort of comments demeaning. 

Employers often tolerate seemingly "harmless" comments being traded amongst staff, but as the tribunal noted "one man's banter can be another's harassment". Whilst in this case it was found that managers actually became involved in the discriminatory behaviour, employers can of course be vicariously liable for acts of employees where they are acting in the course of their employment. Stopping such unacceptable conduct as soon as it occurs is the best way an employer can protect itself. An employer in this situation must be able to demonstrate that it took all reasonably practicable steps to prevent the discrimination.

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Disclaimer The information in this article is provided as part of Legal Island's Employment Law Hub. We regret we are not able to respond to requests for specific legal or HR queries and recommend that professional advice is obtained before relying on information supplied anywhere within this article. This article is correct at 24/03/2016
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