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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Business
Levi Winchester

Tyre fitter wins £22,000 payout for being called 'lazy old white guy' by colleague

A tyre fitter has been awarded over £22,000 in compensation after a black colleague called him an "lazy old white guy".

An employment tribunal ruled that Barry Moore, 55, was the victim of race and age discrimination following the comment by his colleague Desmond Owusu.

Mr Owusu was also alleged to have called Mr Moore a "gay white man" on more than one occasion despite him being straight.

Employment judge Eoin Fowell said these comments could "only have been a term of abuse".

The tribunal, which was held in Leeds, heard that Mr Moore and Mr Owusu had worked together at Sean Pong Tyres in Rotherham for a number of years.

The company is owned by Sean Frimpong (MEN MEDIA)

They had previously been on good terms and the panel was told that it wasn't clear when the relationship broke down.

The company, owned by Sean Frimpong, was said to have maintained that any comments were "just banter" - but the panel found the language used amounted to harassment.

Judge Fowell said: "Although it is possible that two men in a robust working environment might use abusive language to each other without any bad feeling, there is a risk that it tips over into aggression.

"We conclude that that is what happened here."

Mr Moore reported the comments to Mr Frimpong after speaking to one of the company’s managers, Ben Turner, while outside having a cigarette break in January 2021.

Sean Pong Tyres is based in Rotherham (MEN MEDIA)

Mr Turner then arranged a meeting between the pair, where Mr Moore said Mr Owusu was "winding him up constantly and he could not work with him".

The panel heard that Mr Owusu had told his manager that he "enjoyed taunting Mr Moore".

Despite this, the two men shook hands and returned to work - but Mr Moore went on to file an official complaint just days later, the tribunal was told.

He wrote: "Unfortunately I have no choice but to lodge a complaint. I have spoken to you on several occasions via phone and in person in regards to the racism slander, and discrimination of my character and a lot of abuse.

"Since Desmond started at the company he has done nothing but single me out and slurring abuse at me causing a lot of stress and sleepless nights".

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The panel heard that a meeting was held to address this but that, over the next few weeks, Mr Moore was "stressed" about going to work, but he needed the money so "soldiered on".

He was later signed off work with depression.

He remained off work until April and eventually decided that he was unable to return due to the atmosphere and submitted his official resignation in April 2021.

The panel concluded that there did not seem to be "any particular final straw to cause this decision" but that it was a "build up of events at work".

In his conclusion, Judge Fowell said: "As already indicated, we are satisfied that this conduct by Mr Owusu, however it began, tipped over at some point into hostility, and that he was the main culprit.

"He may not have appreciated the effect he was having on Mr Moore but in our view it did create a hostile and intimidating working environment and amounted to bullying and harassment."

The panel said that they were satisfied the harassment was related to race and age.

Following the tribunal, Mr Moore was awarded a total compensation amount of £22,027.21.

He received a total of £7,486.00 for unfair dismissal, and £14,541.21 compensation for discrimination.

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