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A Mayfair private members’ club discriminated against black employees when it accommodated a patron’s request for a ‘fair-skinned dealer’, an employment tribunal has found. A unanimous judgment from the London Central Employment Tribunal said that Crown London Aspinalls had directly discriminated against claimant Semhar Tesfagiorgis because of her race and had treated her less favourably than other employees when it had complied with patrons’ requests for “fair-skinned female dealers” or “western-looking female staff”. Tesfagiorgis claimed that in December 2019 she and a black colleague were prevented from working as dealers at a patron’s table because he had requested a white employee. The casino told the tribunal that it felt it was necessary to accommodate patrons' requests where possible in order to satisfy its customers, which was in its best interest as a business. It also felt dealers benefitted from supporting such requests because the players would likely return and pay more in tips. The claimant took voluntary redundancy from the organisation in October 2020. In her witness statement, Tesfagiorgis said the company’s managing director Mr Branson questioned her on whether he should turn away "a million-pound punter" when she raised a complaint. However, this was denied by Branson, who said he had told the claimant the customer would be spoken to. The tribunal favoured Branson's version of events. Tesfagiorgis also alleged that the company had prevented her from swapping a shif