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
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD 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
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD 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+

Unconscious biasLatest NewsEquality, diversity and inclusionDisciplineDiscipline and grievances

Black trainee who had bias complaint ‘shut down’ was victimised by manager

by Ashleigh Webber 10 Nov 2021
by Ashleigh Webber 10 Nov 2021 DCStockPhotography / Shutterstock.com
DCStockPhotography / Shutterstock.com

A black trainee at AIG Asset Management was victimised by a manager who ‘shut down’ a conversation when the claimant complained of unconscious bias, a tribunal has found.

In January 2020, Ms Nyeko told her manager, Ms Monaghan, that she was concerned that there was “unconscious bias” against her in the team she had recently started working for, as she was not being included or being tasked with interesting work.

She said she felt the team needed unconscious bias training and that she hoped to set up an internal employee resources group that would support black employees and offer unconscious bias training.

Monaghan told the Central London employment tribunal that that the claimant did not give any specific examples of what she deemed to be “unconscious bias” and that she did not refer to race discrimination specifically. However, it was believed by Monaghan and colleagues at AIG that Nyeko had been complaining of race discrimination, which the tribunal agreed.

The claimant alleged that Monaghan had closed the discussion down when Monaghan said she had not seen discrimination on the team. This was denied by Monaghan, who told the tribunal: “I never said I had not seen any discrimination at AIG – I said in my [team] I had not seen it. I had no intention of closing it down… I was thinking very seriously about it. I asked for input.”

However, the tribunal found that she had “closed down” the conversation about bias.

Unconscious bias

Unconscious bias training: Top tips for running successful UBT workshops

KPMG chair steps aside after unconscious bias comments

‘Use data-driven approaches to reduce unconscious bias’

The tribunal ruled that the claimant’s allegations about bias amounted to a protected act, although she did not expressly say that she had been subjected to race discrimination.

The judgment said: “Ms Monaghan effectively told a junior black employee that race discrimination did not exist on the team. The tribunal decided that dismissing a junior employee’s concerns in this way, without any undertaking to reflect or discuss the matter again, both ‘put down’ and ‘shut down’ the claimant.

“A reasonable employee in the claimant’s position would feel disadvantaged in the workplace thereafter. They would reasonably consider that serious concerns they raised would be likely to be dismissed, rather than taken seriously.”

The tribunal found that shutting down the conversation and not acting on her concerns had been an act of victimisation.

Managers at AIG were also found to have victimised the claimant when it invited her to an investigation meeting and to discuss allegations that she was not away on holiday and was in the UK, as opposed to Uganda where Nyeko said she had been stranded after losing her visa.

They believed that she had been dishonest about her time away as she had brought forward her holiday booking shortly before going away in order to attend to a family emergency in Uganda, but claimed to have lost her UK visa when she arrived there which meant she had to stay there for longer while a replacement was arranged, returning to the UK when the original holiday booking was set to have expired.

There was a dispute as to whether Nyeko had worked remotely from Uganda during the time she was supposed have been back at work. Nyeko said she had expected to have been paid in full for the time that she worked remotely, but managers thought she had been dishonest about the time she had worked.

The tribunal found it had made an unlawful deductions from her wages when it did not pay her for one of the days she worked remotely. However, the tribunal found that Nyeko had claimed pay for another four days’ work when there was no evidence she had been working remotely, for which the company was right to dismiss her for. It therefore dismissed Nyeko’s claim for wrongful dismissal.

Compensation will be discussed at a hearing in January 2022.

AIG has been contacted for a response.

D&I opportunities currently on PT Jobs


More D&I jobs
Ashleigh Webber
Ashleigh Webber

Ashleigh is editor at OHW+ and HR and wellbeing editor at Personnel Today. Ashleigh's areas of interest include employee health and wellbeing, equality and inclusion and skills development. She has hosted many webinars for Personnel Today, on topics including employee retention, financial wellbeing and menopause support. Prior to joining Personnel Today in 2018, she covered the road transport sector for Commercial Motor and Motor Transport magazines, touching on some of the employment and wellbeing issues experienced by those in road haulage.

previous post
Workers feel hybrid arrangements don’t suit their preferences
next post
Shame about childcare responsibilities affects productivity, study finds

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

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

You may also like

‘I’m not an activist: I just want fairer...

25 Jul 2022

Kristie Higgs succeeds in bid to remove LGBT...

5 Jul 2022

Attracting diverse young talent to the ‘secret’ world...

28 Jun 2022

Gender pay gap ‘won’t close until 2151’

27 Jun 2022

Wording of diversity statements critical to policies’ success

10 Jun 2022

Women’s promotions at financial services firms lag behind

30 May 2022

Breaking the bias – how to make a...

26 May 2022

Women in FTSE 350 leadership: ‘A lot of...

20 May 2022

Avoid salary history questions in recruitment, guide urges

29 Apr 2022

Addressing bias: How to boost progress in diversity...

22 Mar 2022
  • 6 reasons why work-based learning is better than traditional training PROMOTED | A recent Fortune/Deloitte survey found that 71% of CEOs are anticipating that this year’s biggest business disrupter...Read more
  • Strengthening Scotland’s public services through virtual recruiting PROMOTED | This website is Scotland's go-to place for job seekers looking to apply for roles in public services...Read more
  • What’s next for L&D? Enter Alchemist… PROMOTED | It’s time to turn off the tedious and get ready for interactive and immersive learning experiences...Read more
  • Simple mistakes are blighting the onboarding experience PROMOTED | The onboarding of new hires is a company’s best chance...Read more
  • Preventing Burnout: How can HR help key workers get the right help? PROMOTED | Workplace wellbeing may seem a distant memory...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
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD 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+