12/08/2008

Englishman Wins Harassment Case

An English pipe fitter has been awarded €20,000 (£15,630) in compensation after suffering racial abuse at his Irish workplace.

The man, identified as 'Mr C', worked for an engineering company on a Dublin building site, where he claimed, other workers would sing anti-British Irish rebel songs and ignore him.

On some occasions, whenever staff had to enter dangerous spaces, they would say "send the Brits in".

Negative reports about England, such as a story about a nuclear plant in Sellafield, or the performance of the English football team during the World Cup in Germany were also read out in his presence.

The man, who requested anonymity, told an Equality Tribunal that shortly after joining the firm in April 2006, the abuse reached a point where he would take his lunch in his car instead of the canteen.

The man claimed that two months after starting work he was made redundant because he was British - instead of a less experienced Irish worker.

It is understood that another worker said "the Brit should be sacked" when the issue arose.

Mr C said his supervisor was "intimidating" and "joined in with the abuse".

The company has denied allegations of harassment and said the man had never complained to his site manager about abuse.

The company insisted that the man was laid off because he had "less service" than other workers on the site.

The Tribunal found the man was racially harassed and said that some of the instances suffered by the English worker were "of a blatant and intimidatory nature".

However, it was ruled that the man was not chosen for redundancy because of his nationality.

(DS)

Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

24 June 2008
Man And Woman Arrested In Jersey Case
A man and woman have been arrested in Jersey by detectives involved in the Historical Abuse Enquiry. The Jersey police have said that a 70-year-old man and a 69-year-old man are currently in custody "in connection with a number of alleged grave and criminal assaults on children within the Jersey Care system in the 1960's and 1970's".
09 April 2013
ITV Weatherman Arrested In Historical Sex Abuse Investigation
Police investigating allegations of historical child sex abuse at a Greater Manchester school has arrested TV weather presenter Fred Talbot.
26 October 2015
Witnesses Sought To Alleged Wimbledon Rape
Police have appealed for witnesses following an alleged rape in Wimbledon in the early hours of Sunday morning. Officers were called at approximately 02:00 on Sunday, 25 October, by the victim, a 34-year-old woman, who stated she had been attacked 30 minutes earlier in Dundonald Recreation Ground, Dundonald Road.
20 October 2015
Met Combine All Ongoing Historical Child Abuse Investigations
The Metropolitan Police has combined all ongoing investigations into historical child abuse, to be led by a newly formed investigation team under Detective Superintendent Ang Scott. The force said that is has decided to combine Operations Midland and Fairbank following the discovery of a number of people and locations common to both enquiries.
16 October 2015
Kent Police Investigative 'Tool' Rolled Out Across EU
A "tool" developed by Kent Police and the University of Liverpool, which assesses the level of risk posed by a suspected paedophile and the likelihood of that person becoming a contact offender, is to be developed for use across Europe.