Boss abused at work handed £300k payout
£90K-A-YEAR EXECUTIVE ABUSED BY LINE MANAGER, TRIBUNAL TOLD
A HIGH flying executive who was called ‘pikey’, ‘gyppo’ and ‘ paddy’ during board meetings has been awarded nearly £300,000 by an employment tribunal.
Father-of-one Edward Bell, 52, was also told he looked like a ‘tinker’ by line manager Sid Barnes and asked where he had left his ‘horse and cart’ – before being wrongfully fired for ‘whistle-blowing’ – the hearing was told.
And at one social event, Mr Bell, who lives in Didsbury, was told he was the only person who could wear good clothes and still ‘look like a gypsy’, the tribunal heard.
The abuse got gradually worse, escalating after Belfast-born Mr Bell raised concerns about the £21m takeover of a rival company by his employers Cordant, one of the UK’s largest recruitment firms.
An employment tribunal in Manchester upheld his claims of harassment related to race and unfair dismissal because of making protected disclosures.
Speaking after the written ruling, Mr Bell, who earned £90,000 a year working at the company’s Manchester base in the city centre, added: “My family lineage has some Romany. It’s about abuse of power by bullying.
“A lot of it happened during board meetings. But we all know when banter stops and racism begins. It was demeaning and derogatory.”
Mr Barnes was Mr Bell’s immediate boss and one of the most senior figures at the recruitment giant.
He told Mr Bell he dressed like a gypsy or ‘gyppo’ and looked like a ‘tinker’ – as well as making jokes about his ‘horse and cart’, the tribunal heard.
Tribunal chair Judge Hilary Slater said: “The claimant asserts this harassment started from his first meeting with Mr Barnes and continued throughout his employment – particularly when they attended business meetings around the country and the attendees met in the bar for a drink after the meeting.”
The hearing was told it started when they were introduced at a coffee shop at Euston station in January 2015 and Mr Barnes said: “You have a pretty thick Irish accent, don’t you?”
At a meeting at Woburn Abbey the following April he said Mr Barnes – referring to the new company car policy – told him he would be able to upgrade to a ‘new horse and cart.’
Mr Bell was headhunted by chief executive officer Steven Kirkpatrick and began working for the company in June 2014 as managing director of Cordant Dynamic People Recruitment, a new technology division.
Jo Till, managing director of another subsidiary, said comments were made about ‘ Eddie looking scruffy and Sid would say Eddie had turned up to meetings on his ‘horse and cart’. At the time he joked along with it and it was all in jest, or at least that’s how it seemed’.
The judge said: “The claimant also alleges that, at various times, Mr Barnes referred to him as a ‘pikey’ or a ‘paddy’. We prefer the evidence of the claimant to that of Mr Barnes in finding such comments were made.
“We also prefer the claimant’s evidence in finding Mr Barnes said at various times the claimant was ‘scruffy’, ‘dressed like a gypsy’ or a ‘gyppo’ or looked like a tinker.”
It was said that in London, at another meeting, Mr Barnes said he was ‘glad to see the claimant had made it there on his horse and cart’.
Later, during a group drink, he told the party Mr Bell was the only person ‘ who could wear good clothes and still look like a gypsy.’
Mr Bell said the abuse worsened after he told Mr Barnes that Cordant had purchased recruitment company Staffgroup Ltd at an overinflated price. Mr Bell was put on garden leave at the end of September 2015 and given six months notice, which expired on March 28, 2016. Speaking after the tribunal, Mr Bell said: “I was effectively sacked for being a whistleblower. I was prepared to take the racism on the chin.”
Divorcee Mr Bell was awarded £283,472.03, which included loss of earnings, bonuses, pension, life assurance, long-term illness insurance and injury to feelings.
He has since applied for more than 100 jobs – including roles as a delivery driver, a manager with Aldi and at a call centre – without success. He said his ability to obtain comparable employment was ‘severely hindered’ by the manner of his dismissal.