A former Lloyds Banking Group employee has won his case for unfair dismissal after he was fired for using a racial slur during a training session.
Carl Borg-Neal worked as a manager at the bank and was one of more than 70,000 employees invited to take part in race education training as part of its Race Action Plan.
During one of the sessions in 2021, which was discussing intent versus effect, Borg-Neal asked how he should handle a situation where he had heard someone from an ethnic minority use a word that might be considered offensive if used by someone not in that minority.
He gave the example of rap music, saying to the trainer: “The most common example being use of the N word in the black community”. However, he used the full word rather than the abbreviation, the tribunal heard.
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The claimant apologised immediately and did not repeat the word, but subsequently the trainer took four or five days off work as a result of the slur. The bank then dismissed Borg-Neal.
In judgment, employment judge Lewis said that Lloyds had been “entirely reasonable” to hold the view that the word is “appalling” and should be avoided in a professional environment, and that hearing it might be painful and shocking for a black employee.
However, the judge added that “in the very unusual and particular circumstances of this case, the tribunal finds that no reasonable employer would have dismissed the claimant”.
“If the bank wanted to make a point, it could have given the claimant a warning. The whole purpose was to explore intention vs effect, and for the attendees to learn.”
The tribunal rejected a claim for race discrimination, holding that no substantial part of the reason for dismissal was that Borg-Neal was white, rather than that he had used the word and this had badly distressed the trainer.
It did uphold one of Borg-Neal’s claims for disability discrimination, however, based on the fact he has dyslexia, which can lead to him saying things before losing his train of thought.
“The evidence led us to believe, on the balance of probabilities, that the claimant’s dyslexia was a strong factor causing how he expressed himself at the session, and in his use of the full word rather than finding a means to avoid it.”
In a statement, Lloyds Banking Group said it had a “zero-tolerance policy on any racial discrimination or use of racist language”.
A remedy hearing to decide Borg-Neal’s compensation will take place in October.
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