HS2 manager sues over ‘racist’ use of ‘whiter than white’
A BLACK manager at HS2 sued for discrimination after claiming the phrase “whiter than white” is racist.
Sharon Goodison said her boss’s use of it was offensive as the words implied “white is good, black is bad”.
She told an employment tribunal the phrase, which has Shakespearean origins, has had racial connotations for her throughout her life.
Mrs Goodison warned manager Laura Day a police officer had been disciplined for saying it, leading to her apologising for any offence caused.
Forced
The tribunal dismissed the discrimination claim, ruling that Ms Day’s use of the expression was not related to race but was an “apposite” comment about HS2’s behaviour.
But the rail firm was found to have forced Mrs Goodison out of her job by taking too long to investigate her complaints.
The expression “a whiter hue than white” appeared in Shakespeare’s 1593 poem Venus and Adonis and came to mean always being honest.The then-Prime Minister Tony Blair said New Labour would be that in power in the 1990s. The Central London tribunal was told compliance manager Mrs Goodison was unhappy in her role and compared it to being with an abusive boyfriend who had “bullied, racially discriminated, disrespected and disempowered me”. In July 2021 Ms Day said “HS2 aren’t whiter than white here” about how the firm was not abiding by the terms of a contract.
Mrs Goodison said while she understood the point, the phrase had racial connotations and had impacted her.
She said: “I said she had to be very careful.” Ms Day said: “I was talking about HS2 not complying with a contract. It had nothing to do with race.”
Mrs Goodison submitted grievances but the inquiry took nine months which caused her anxiety, she said.
She resigned without notice in August 2021, claiming constructive dismissal. The panel rejected the race claim, finding she was overly critical of Ms Day.
Employment Judge Jillian Brown said: “Ms Day used the phrase ‘whiter than white’ when describing the [company’s] performance. The phrase did not relate to [Mrs Goodison].”
The tribunal ruled that HS2 had taken too long with the grievance process and awarded Mrs Goodison £7,647 in compensation for constructive unfair dismissal.