A woman was awarded £23,526 (approx ₹29 lakh) by an employment tribunal after it was found that her boss racially harassed her by constantly shouting “potato” at the Irish employee. According to reports, the director of the company where the woman was working used “offensive and humiliating” phrases to taunt her about her heritage.
Bernadette Hayes told Dailymail that the constant remarks from Mick Atkins left her feeling “small, insecure, violated and extremely anxious”. She was even fearful of going to work, adding that due to the months of toxicity at work, she suffered panic attacks and insomnia.
“He [did] this in front of other members of staff. He would shout potato as soon as he walked in the office without having me having even spoken to him,” Hayes told the outlet, adding, “’This totally eroded my self-respect and my self esteem.” She claimed that Atkins also called her “potato” over WhatsApp.
Why didn’t she quit?
In a statement to the tribunal, she said she continued working because she needed the job.
“I had a huge change in my personal circumstances, and I needed my job.”
She added, “I felt trapped, and this added to my anxiety. I used to remain quiet so as not to draw attention to myself but even this did not work.”
The former employee of the engineering firm West Leeds Civils further stated, “He even sent ‘potato’ in a WhatsApp exchange. Mr Atkins further called me a gypsy/traveller due to my Irish heritage. He would constantly say that I was lusting after the travellers outside the office. I felt bullied and harassed by this.”
It was told to the tribunal that Hayes herself once used the word “potato” and sent an emoji of the vegetable while communicating with Atkins. However, the employment judge concluded that she did it just to “fit in”.
What did the judge say?
The judge said, “The claimant told Mr Atkins on a number of occasions that she did not find his comments funny. I find that the claimant did not regularly use the term ‘potato’ to describe herself. I do not accept that these conversations were, in general, ‘back and forth’,” reported Dailymail.
Talking about the impact of the incidents on Hayes, the judge continued, “As soon as she woke up on a working morning, she began thinking about the comments and felt nervous for what would happen that day. She didn’t want to attend work but knew she needed to. She found herself delaying going into work. She often would sit in her car outside work prior to her working day trying to encourage herself to go into the building.”
Judge Sophie Buckley added, “She would wait to see who was in the carpark and hope she didn’t see Mr Atkins’ car. She would also check her emails to see if she could figure out if Mr Atkins would be away from the office. She felt physically sick walking into the office when Mr Atkins and Mr Smith were both there as she dreaded them mocking her.”
How much was she awarded?
As per the outlet, she was awarded a total compensation of £23,526. It includes £13,000 in ‘injury to feelings’ and £6,014 that is related to loss of earnings.
What did Mick Atkins say?
He called the proceedings of the tribunal “nonsense from start to finish”. He told the outlet, “The potato was actually her joke, she’s from Northern Ireland. But I don’t want to say too much to get myself into any further trouble. The pikey [comment] was never said. It was all made up nonsense. Honestly, it’s been an absolute nightmare. It actually boils my blood.”