Tube driver wins £3k over colleague’s swastika tattoo
A TRAIN driver has been awarded £3,000 compensation for working with a colleague who had Nazi tattoos.
Dion De Leon challenged Bryan Siequien after discovering he had a swastika and a German Iron Eagle tattooed on his leg, an employment tribunal heard.
But Mr De Leon claimed he was labelled the ‘wrongdoer rather than the victim’ by Tube bosses and was investigated for allegedly calling a friend of Mr Siequien a ‘white supremacist’. He likened his treatment to ‘mental torture’ and alleged that it had damaged his health.
The compensation was awarded despite a panel of judges at East London Hearing Centre learning that Mr Siequien had had the swastika blacked out after Mr De Leon’s complaint.
They said: ‘We do not doubt that the tattoo has caused him some genuine and material distress and has injured his feelings.
‘Although the swastika tattoo was visibly present to the claimant for a relatively short period of time, we consider that this is a particularly offensive symbol and that all of the connotations which are carried within it should not be diminished.
‘The swift and voluntary steps taken to remove the swastika were sensible… but they failed to remove the entirety of the tattoo.’
The tribunal accepted that Mr Siequien’s tattoos did not mean he had extreme views.
Mr De Leon’s claims of ‘harassment related to race’ succeeded against London Underground and Mr Siequien and he was awarded £3,000 for ‘injury to feelings’.