Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • Maternity & Paternity
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • Maternity & Paternity
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Tribunal WatchEthnicityLatest NewsEquality, diversity and inclusionRace discrimination

Worker wins race discrimination claim at curry supplier

by Jo Faragher 20 Jan 2021
by Jo Faragher 20 Jan 2021 Sorby was told he could not cook Asian food properly because he was British
Shutterstock
Sorby was told he could not cook Asian food properly because he was British
Shutterstock

A man who worked for a curry supplier has won a race discrimination claim after being told he did not understand recipes because he was white.

Mr Sorby worked for Bradford Management Services at Mumtaz Foods in Bradford, which supplies meals to Indian restaurants and supermarkets (not related to Mumtaz Restaurant in Leeds). He complained about the comments, accusing his managers of making a “stereotypical assumption” that he could not cook Asian food properly because he was British.

Race discrimination

Race discrimination 

When can an individual bring a claim for direct race discrimination? 

After he raised the issue, his shifts began to dry up and he was placed “on call”, asked to empty his locker and return property belonging to the company, effectively rendering him dismissed.

He was also advised to look for another job as he would not be offered any further work.

According to the tribunal, his supervisor Mr Akhtar, a director of Mumtaz Foods, had told him that “this is an Asian food company, you have to work faster”, an incident that prompted Sorby to text the HR department and ask them to address it with Akhtar.

Sorby later raised a grievance in November 2019, claiming he had tried to resolve matters with HR manager Mr Silva earlier but without success, and that he considered his treatment racially motivated.

The tribunal noted a number of issues with the disciplinary procedure at Mumtaz, including inviting Sorby to a gross misconduct meeting relating to an incident in the work canteen without first interviewing witnesses, Sorby failing to receive notification of this meeting and no action to progress his own complaint.

It also found no evidence that employees were inducted in or trained in equality and diversity, or any measures to monitor the performance of diversity measures in the workplace.

In a meeting with HR, he was told he would no longer receive shifts because of his performance, despite there being no previous mentions of problems with him following recipes. He worked considerable hours on a zero-hours contract, and was told he would have to resign to receive his “week-in-hand” pay that the company withheld from production operative workers until they resigned.

In the judgment, employment judge TR Smith, said: “The comment was not trivial or unintended and Mr Akhtar’s intention was to try and persuade the claimant to leave the First Respondent’s [Akhtar] employment.

“The tribunal is satisfied that Mr Akhtar called the Claimant to one side in the production area on 16 October 2019 and told the Claimant that this was an Asian company and he should go and work for an English company.”

The tribunal upheld Sorby’s claims for racial discrimination, harassment and victimisation. Compensation will be awarded at a remedy hearing, a date for which is yet to be fixed.

Employee relations opportunities on Personnel Today

Browse more Employee Relations jobs

Jo Faragher
Jo Faragher

Jo Faragher has been an employment and business journalist for 20 years. She regularly contributes to Personnel Today and writes features for a number of national business and membership magazines. She won the Willis Towers Watson HR journalist of the year award in 2015 and has been highly commended twice.

previous post
Ensure workers have right to privacy when work is monitored, says Labour
next post
No jab, no job? Six Covid vaccination questions for HR

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

You may also like

Monkeypox advice for employers: working from home and...

26 May 2022

Aspers casino cashier excluded by colleagues wins £75k...

23 May 2022

EHRC’s legal fund for tackling race discrimination: what...

21 Apr 2022

Record ethnic diversity in NHS, but barriers to...

8 Apr 2022

P&O Ferries chef launches unfair dismissal and discrimination...

6 Apr 2022

Police forces must develop black talent, says racism...

22 Mar 2022

Serial claimant banned after ‘weaponising’ employment tribunal system

11 Mar 2022

Is the law confusing around positive action and...

25 Feb 2022

Ethnic minorities ‘as likely to be in top...

24 Feb 2022

Worker wins £22k following ‘old white man’ comments

21 Feb 2022
  • Strathclyde Business School expands its Degree Apprenticeship offer in England PROMOTED | The University of Strathclyde is expanding its programmes...Read more
  • The Search for Talent: Six Major Employer Pitfalls PROMOTED | The Great Resignation continues unabated...Read more
  • Navigating the widening “Skills Confidence Gap” in 2022, and beyond PROMOTED | Cornerstone OnDemand conducted a global study...Read more
  • Apprenticeships are the solution to your recruitment problems PROMOTED | Apprenticeships have the pulling power...Read more
  • What it really means to be mentally fit PROMOTED | What is mental fitness...Read more
  • How music can help to ease anxiety at work PROMOTED | A lot has happened since March 2020, hasn’t it?...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2022

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2022 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • Maternity & Paternity
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+