A steelworker who was mocked in vile Snapchat images has
won a massive payout for racial abuse – even though he is white.
Wayne Hoch, 35, was driven to mental collapse after being
taunted over his South African nationality by colleagues at UK firm Thor
Atkinson Steel Fabrications Ltd.
A tribunal awarded him more than £54K (R1 million) over the
abuse – in which he was branded a 'n****r', 'immigrant' and a 'foreign c***'.
One worker posted a Snapchat image of Hoch's head
superimposed onto the body of a starving black child with the words:
"Donate £1 a month to save this poor child".
And another mocked-up image of him next to a black African
woman carrying a child, read: "Congratulations Wayne on the newborn".
Hoch said he was left suicidal over the abuse at the
Cumbria-based firm. His boss, company co-director Thor Atkinson, claimed the
taunts were just "office banter".
Hoch, who worked as a buyer from 2014 until resigning in
2018, said: 'They degraded me, humiliated me and left me depressed and anxious.
"They bullied me relentlessly and called me the most
offensive names on a daily basis. I almost ended my life from the stress and
anxiety they caused."
The tribunal, in Carlisle, Cumbria, heard that Mr Atkinson
called Hoch a "w**" and a "foreign c**" more often
"than addressing him by his name".
He also used the offensive slur "k****r", a
racist insult that was commonly used under apartheid.
And a voicemail left on Hoch's phone from his boss simply
said: "Foreign c***. "
Describing one incident employment judge Bernard Hodgson
said: "When he was particularly down, Mr Atkinson addressed him with
'What's up with you, f****** c***, what you being moody again for? Having your
period? And sulking you f***** foreigner'."
Hoch, who brought claims for constructive dismissal and
racial and sexual harassment, quit his job to take a lesser paid, lower status
role at another company.
In his resignation letter he said he had found the abuse to
be 'threatening, degrading, racist and a violation of my personal self'.
He wrote: "The way in which you constantly address me
and have done so over a prolonged period of time has made me ill to the point I
have had to seek medical attention."
The tribunal heard that Hoch, who came to the UK aged 18,
secretly recorded some of the taunts on his phone.
A worker called Ollie Hunter, who also posted the Snapchat
images, spoke over him saying: "Mud hut, spear, lion, lion, lion".
A clicking noise made by Hunter was claimed to be an
attempt to imitate the sound made in the South African Xhosa language. Hunter was also filmed saying: "I am not making a brew
for a foreigner."
The tribunal awarded Hoch a total of £54 686 for the
"prolonged" abuse which the "owners of the business were
complicit in - and indeed directly partook in".
Judge Hodgson admitted the big payout was "undoubtedly
extremely significant and therefore potentially very worrying to the
individuals involved".
"In all the circumstances, the tribunal is clear that
it was the events at work as described that led to – were the effective cause
of – the claimant's decision to resign."
Hoch, who lives in Holme, Cumbria, said: "I want to
others to know that you don't need to stand for verbal or racial abuse at work.
"It is not acceptable and should not be tolerated. A
lot of the staff followed Thor's actions and thought it was okay to follow
suit.
"Taking this case to a tribunal has been enormously
stressful but I could not let them get away with how they acted."
Thor Atkinson Steel Fabrications Ltd was approached for
comment. Daily Mail
0 comments:
Post a Comment