Posted Date: 17th June 2024

A British Indian bathroom salesman was awarded £9,329.23 for injury to feelings, as a result of race harassment.

Viveak Taneja was referred by the wrong name four times, by the sales director, who has dyslexia which can cause him trouble remembering names. Employment Judge Cowen ruled “We considered that it was related to the claimant’s race, as the name which Mr Davies used is one which has direct connotation with race”.

Taneja was employed in June 2021 as an area sales manager by Phoenix Whirlpools. In March 2022, Dana Davies was hired as a Sales Director, and they agreed to spend some time to get to know one another, with Taneja collecting Davies from the train station. The tribunal were told that the two men did not like each other upon meeting. Whilst in the car, Davies said Taneja’s first name incorrectly on two separate occasions and was corrected, but Davies did not apologise. The tribunal were informed that he has dyslexia which can cause him trouble remembering names, however he did not inform Taneja of this at the time.

They stopped for a break at McDonalds and Davies misnamed Taneja a further two times. At this point Taneja became upset and pointed out that he had corrected Davies already and he was listening to him. He walked away calling Davies an “idiot” and a “racist” and asked Davies to remove his cases from the car. Davies warned that if Taneja drove away he would be finished and terminated, but he drove away regardless.

Both employees submitted their account of what happened to the chief operating officer. Taneja was dismissed, without any further investigation, on that day.

Taneja successfully claimed unfair dismissal and race discrimination.

This is an important case for employers to be aware of, as it shows that race discrimination doesn’t have to be intentional to be unlawful. Managers should receive equality and diversity training, so they are more aware of how words and behaviours can be offensive and degrading. If Davies had apologised and explained his dyslexia, Taneja may not have felt humiliated. If the Company had investigated the issue more thoroughly, and perhaps conducted meditation between the two employees, they may have been able to fix the breakdown in the relationship. By immediately dismissing Taneja, it gives a message that any complaints regarding discrimination will not be listened to, and instead you may be penalised for doing so.

It also important to remember that when it comes to discrimination, an employee doesn’t need to have more than two years employment to claim unfair dismissal, this is known as ‘automatic unfair dismissal’.