In the case of N Morgan v Arriva Rail London Ltd Mr Morgan started work for Arriva Rail in May 2015. Since 2016, he has been employed as an Information Controller. Mr Morgan identifies as being of black Caribbean descent.
Mr Morgan’s line manager was Colin Toms, the Duty Control Manager. In August 2019, there was a WhatsApp chat amongst Mr Morgan’s team (six members of staff) about Notting Hill Carnival, which was taking place the next weekend. One team member (San San) texted ‘Hey ppl tomorrow we have Jerk chicken or curry chicken … Lets bring carnival into the office’. Mr Toms responded ‘If we are bringing carnival into the office who is bringing the drugs and knives?
Mr Morgan was shocked and upset. He said nothing. Notting Hill Carnival historically plays a very large part in Mr Morgan’s black Caribbean culture. He was extremely offended. Mr Morgan was the only black member of staff on his team and the only black Caribbean member of staff. Mr Morgan felt that Mr Toms had gone out of his way to mention the negative, knowing that Mr Morgan was the only black person in the group. He had had issues with Mr Toms before, which made him feel it was deliberate and targeted behaviour.
Judges said the tribunal saw “glimpses of bullying” and “clear evidence of belittling and abusive comments”. It also found a senior manager investigating Mr Morgan repeatedly said he ‘plays the race card’, described him as “aggressive and tries to intimidate individuals” even though he’d only met him once and did not interview a non-white colleague, who also received racist remarks, during an investigation.
Arriva said: “We deeply regret that our colleague experienced behaviour that is not at all in keeping with the principles of our organisation, or our values and we have apologised and continue to offer ongoing support,” an ARL spokesperson said.
“We do not tolerate racism or discrimination in any form… We will take appropriate action as a result to ensure that this type of behaviour has no place within ARL.
“In addition to our own investigations, we have identified support from outside of ARL to conduct a review and make additional recommendations.”
A hearing in December will determine what compensation Mr Morgan is entitled to.
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