£8k for black rig boss who overheard N-word rant

Firm ordered to pay compensation after worker’s offensive tirade

A SUPERVISOR on an oil rig has been awarded £8000 in a racial harassment case after overhearing a colleague using the N-word.

Ray Atkinson, who is black, was upset when project manager Mark McCoag used the offensive term about himself when ranting about his lazy son.

In Atkinson’s earshot, McCoag, of Glasgow, said: “All I’ve done is work like a f ****** n ***** all my life.” He apologised when challenged by Atkinson at the time of the incident in May 2016 and called to say sorry the next day.

The pair worked for energy services company Cape plc and Atkinson sued the firm for harassment related to race.

An employment tribunal in Hull upheld his complaint.

Atkinson, from Gorleston, Norfolk, had told a grievance meeting with the company that it had been a “horrendous” ordeal.

The firm provided him with six sessions of counselling – and acknowledged it had been “difficult and distressing”.

But Atkinson resigned in July 2016, hours after learning the company were not firing McCoag over what was said.

In a letter to McCoag, Cape’s operations director Simon Atterton wrote: “The reason I have decided not to dismiss you for gross misconduct is based on the context in which the comment was made, as well as your immediate attempts to rectify the situation.”

Employment judge Susan Cox said the tribunal did not accept the firm’s decision to keep McCoag in post was discrimination. She added: “The sole allegation of discrimination the tribunal upholds relates to Mr McCoag’s comment.

“For that act of harassment, the tribunal orders the company to pay Mr Atkinson £8000 compensation, covering their own liability and that of Mr McCoag.”

Claims by Atkinson under the Equality Act and for unfair dismissal were thrown out.