Racial harassment

Case 8: The facts

Miss Nyateka's manager came into work for a meeting that Nyateka knew nothing about and to which she would normally have been invited. The manager refused to let her attend the meeting; when she asked why, he said, "Maybe it's because I'm being racist to a black woman," which he claimed was a joke.

Nyateka made a complaint and went home. Her employer carried out an investigation and then brought in a consultant, who interviewed the manager but not Nyateka; she said this was an act of discrimination.

The ruling

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) upheld the tribunal's finding that the comment amounted to racial harassment, but said there did not appear to be evidence to support the claim that the consultant's failure to interview Nyateka was discriminatory: he had stated that he started on the assumption that her statement was true and that he did not want to upset her further.

The EAT therefore reduced the amount of compensation from £1,500 to £1,250.

Queenscourt Ltd v Nyateka EAT/0182/06