A London Underground (LU) worker is suing his employer for victimisation after he complained about a colleague’s allegedly frightening behaviour.
Tom Mahoney, a supervisor at Caledonian Road station, told the Watford employment tribunal that Daniel Jean-Marie had stood opposite his desk taking photographs of him, making him “extremely nervous”. He also claimed he was so frightened about what Jean-Marie might do that he changed his route home.
He alleges that when he complained to his bosses about Jean-Marie’s alleged behaviour, they victimised him. LU said it is “contesting the claim and while the hearing is ongoing it would be inappropriate to comment further”.
Jean-Marie was at the centre of a 2006 case in which he alleged that he suffered racist bullying at the hands of two white tube workers, whom he accused of taunting him by biting the heads off black jelly babies.
They were cleared by a jury at Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court in a case that cost taxpayers £250,000. But LU later paid Jean-Marie £125,000 in an out-of-court settlement after he brought a claim of racial discrimination against it.
Jonathan Maude, employment partner at Hogan & Hartson, told Personnel Today: “Robust management by employers should prevent this sort of thing escalating. These claims are bad for business, morale and profile [of the employer], and it’s better to nip these things in the bud rather than drag them out.”
