A woman who suffered eight years of racial abuse at a small electronics company in Essex has been awarded £34,000 in compensation by an employment tribunal.
Pauline Taylor had worked as a technician at Benham General Engineering, based in Essex, since 1999. She was the only member of staff from an ethnic minority.
The tribunal heard Taylor was referred to as “nigger”, literature from the British National Party was placed on her workstation and colleagues openly discussed the extreme right-wing party’s policies in her presence.
The company landed itself with an extra £5,000 penalty after claiming Taylor had tried to make herself look “more black” for the tribunal.
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Alan Ritchie, general secretary of construction union Ucatt, which supported the case, said: “This shocking case underlines that racism still exists in the workplace.”
The tribunal ordered the company to work with the Commission for Racial Equality to provide diversity training for all directors and managers.
