AN NHS receptionist has won a racial harassment case because his boss neglected to tell him a cleaner had referred to him as a 'black sack'. Charles Sterling was awarded compensation after successfully claiming his manager 'violated his dignity' by not telling him he had been the subject of racist abuse.
Health service clinic boss Sarah Taylor immediately reprimanded the cleaner for her comments and but did not tell Mr Sterling about it because she 'thought it would upset him unnecessarily,' an employment tribunal was told. But keeping him in the dark about the incident was an act of harassment itself, the panel has ruled, as it could have led to a repeat of the abuse.
Mr Sterling - who is of Caribbean heritage - has now won £1,000 in compensation from the NHS for injury to feelings. The tribunal was told Mr Sterling had worked as a receptionist and clerical officer at a sexual and reproductive health clinic run by the Seacroft Hospital in Leeds, West Yorks, since 2019.
He was the only black employee within the office, the panel was told. The panel was told that in December 2019, a cleaner entered the admin office to empty the bins and made a racist remark about Mr Sterling when he was not there.
Assistant business manager Mrs Taylor told the tribunal: "I was working late in the admin office when a cleaner came into the office to empty the bins. I asked her for a black sack for my bin and she pointed to Charles’ desk and said, 'there is one over there'.
"I thought that she meant there was one on the desk and so I got up to look. I could not see a bag and so I asked her where. She repeated 'you know, over there'.
"After she had left, [two colleagues] came over to me and explained that she had been making racist remarks about Charles and had in fact been referring to him as a 'black sack'. I was appalled and immediately went to find the cleaner.
"I told her that what she had said was not funny or acceptable. I was extremely firm with her and made it very clear that it must not happen again.
"She told me that she was sorry and that she was not racist because she had mixed race children. I did not tell Charles about the incident immediately because I thought it would upset him unnecessarily," she added.
Mrs Taylor took no further action at this stage because she believed that the cleaner had 'understood,' the panel was told. However, the following day, the cleaner returned to the office and relayed to Mr Sterling what she had said about him the previous day, the tribunal heard.
Mrs Taylor followed the cleaner out of the room and told her she should not have told him, the panel heard. The tribunal was told that the cleaner was subsequently served with a written warning.
Mr Sterling brought no complaint about the cleaner's conduct but instead, suggested that he was subjected to harassment because Mrs Taylor omitted to tell him that the cleaner had made racist remarks, the tribunal heard. The tribunal was told Mr Sterling's contract was not renewed by the NHS trust and he stopped working at the clinic in August 2020.
Supporting his claim that not being informed of the racist abuse amounted to harassment, the panel - chaired by Employment Judge Jonathan Brain - said: "it is not appropriate for the employer to keep an employee in ignorance about an unlawful act or course of conduct concerning them. Such would only be to encourage a lack of transparency within the workplace.
"Such is potentially harmful as it may lead to a repetition of the impugned behaviour. Had the claimant known what the cleaner had said the previous evening then he may have been able to persuade the employer take steps to stop him coming across her.
"She may have been moved or suspended. The failure to inform the claimant of the events of 9 December 2019 and to take meaningful management action exposed the claimant to an incident of race-related harassment the next day.
"We have no hesitation in finding that Sarah Taylor’s conduct was not done with the purpose of violating the claimant’s dignity or creating an intimidating environment for him. We do accept however that her acts reasonably had the effect of violating the claimant’s dignity."
Mr Sterling made other claims accusing Mrs Taylor of improper and intimidating behaviour towards him but these were rejected by the panel. Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust was ordered to pay Mr Sterling £1,000 in compensation.
