Manager to get £300,000 after ‘Gippo’ abuse at board meetings
A RECRUITMENT executive who was called a “Gippo” during board meetings has been awarded nearly £300,000 in a race discrimination case.
Father-of-one Edward Bell, 52, was also told he looked like a “tinker” and asked where he had left his “horse and cart” – before being wrongfully fired for “whistle-blowing”.
At one social event, Mr Bell was told he was the only person who could wear good clothes and still “look like a gipsy”.
Belfast-born Mr Bell, who has Romany heritage, said Sid Barnes, his line manager, made life miserable from the first time they met – remarking on his “strong and thick” accent.
The abuse got gradually worse, escalating after he raised concerns about the £21million takeover of a rival company by his employer 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, 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.” Judge Hilary Slater, tribunal chairman, said: “The claimant asserts this harassment started from his first meeting with Mr Barnes and continued throughout his employment.”
Mr Bell, who was based at Cordant group’s Manchester branch, had been head-hunted by Steven Kirkpatrick, chief executive. He began on June 2 2014 as managing director of Cordant Dynamic People Recruitment, a new technology division. Mr Bell said the abuse worsened after he told Mr Barnes that Cordant had purchased recruitment company Staffgroup Ltd for £21million, providing him with what he believed were falsified invoices.
Mr Bell was put on gardening leave at the end of September 2015 and given six months’ notice, which expired on March 28 2016. Mr Barnes forced him out with false allegations of poor performance and replaced him with a friend on an inflated salary, the tribunal heard.
Mr Bell, a divorcee, was awarded £283,472.03 to cover loss of earnings, bonuses, pension, life assurance, longterm illness insurance and injury to feelings.