- Irish woman awarded Rs 29 lakh for racial harassment at Leeds civil engineering firm
- Employer repeatedly used offensive terms like "potato" and "paddy" targeting her heritage
- Tribunal ruled the language created a hostile, humiliating, and offensive work environment
An Irish woman has been awarded Rs 29 lakh (23,526 pounds) in compensation by an employment tribunal after it found that her boss racially harassed her by constantly shouting "potato". Bernadette Hayes worked as a bookkeeper at a civil engineering company in Leeds, where her employer, Mick Atkins, resorted to offensive and humiliating language to taunt her about her heritage.
Apart from shouting 'potato' in a strong Irish accent whenever he disagreed with Hayes, Atkins also used phrases like "paddy", "stupid paddy" and "p*key" in front of her. The tribunal, in its ruling, noted that Atkins created a hostile environment through his words.
“From a subjective point of view, it clearly created a hostile, humiliating and offensive environment for her,” Judge Buckley stated. “In my view, taken as a whole, it is reasonable for an individual of Irish heritage to find the repeated use of the terms ‘potato', ‘Paddy', ‘stupid Paddy' and ‘p*key' offensive and humiliating."
“These phrases are overtly linked to race, particularly when considered together rather than in isolation. On that basis, I find that the conduct was linked to race.”
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Eroded Self-Respect
Describing the behaviour, Hayes said it felt like suffering a death by 1,000 cuts. Hayes added that she would feel "physically sick" walking into the office throughout the six months when the ordeal lasted.
“This totally eroded my self-respect and my self-esteem. It made me feel small, insecure, violated and extremely anxious. It also made me feel embarrassed," Hayes told the tribunal, adding that she was afraid to ask Atkins to stop as he was an intimidating and volatile character.
Hayes said she could not quit the job as she needed the money. She felt trapped and attempted to remain quiet to not draw attention. However, even then, her boss would find an opportunity to mouth the racist phrases.
