Employment Law

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Racial Discrimination

A Nigerian was awarded €30,000 for racial discrimination by his  team leader in an appeal from the WRC to the Labour Court. There were two instances of the discrimination: the first in February 2019 at the workplace where the complainant claimed that his team leader called him a chimpanzee and made monkey noises at him. This incident was not reported. Then on 21 May 2019 the team leader repeated the same racist abuse in the presence of others. The complainant reported then the two instances to the warehouse manager where he worked as an operative. The WRC dismissed the claim on basis the employer was able to avail of a defence under the Employment Equality Acts by showing that it took steps to reverse the effects of the harassment and to prevent a recurrence. The Labour Court did not agree with this and granted an  award finding the employer vicariously liable for the harassment of its employee.  Further, it stated that in regard to the serious nature of the harassment and the effects it had on the complainant, the redress for him should be dissuasive and proportionate to the injury suffered.

Victor Kings Oluebube v CPL Solutions Ltd, Labour Court, October 2021