£22,000 for tyre worker called ‘old white guy’ by black colleague

A WORKER aged 55 won £22,000 after being called an ‘old white guy’ by a younger black colleague.

Barry Moore was repeatedly told he was too old to do his manual job at a tyre company by Desmond owusu, an employment tribunal heard.

He was awarded £22,027 in compensation after claiming for unfair dismissal and race and age discrimination.

The tribunal in Leeds was told Mr Moore worked for Sean Pong Tyres Limited, a small firm in rotherham which recycles and exports tyres.

Mr Moore was one of two white workers while the owner Sean Frimpong, Mr owusu and another employee, Eric Barkoh, were of Ghanaian origin.

Mr Moore and Mr owusu had known each other for many years and for a long time were on good terms. They worked closely every day and took their breaks together. But the tribunal heard their relationship ‘went downhill fairly rapidly’ around the end of 2020 and start of 2021, when Mr Moore complained about Mr owusu’s language.

The company claimed this was just ‘banter’ and was reciprocated. Mr owusu said they often swore at each other but insisted they never used racist words.

Employment Judge Eoin Fowell said: ‘(Mr Moore) found it intimidating, and complained about it and tried to get Mr Frimpong to bring it to an end. There is no suggestion from Mr owusu that he ever felt intimidated by Mr Moore. Indeed he accepted that he did enjoy winding Mr Moore up.’

The tribunal heard Mr Moore filed a formal complaint and described Mr owusu as shouting abuse at him, taunting him, telling him he was too old and threatening to hit him.

He said he was called a ‘gay white man’, lazy and too old for his job, and was sworn at.

Judge Fowell said: ‘Mr Moore’s account that he was mainly on the receiving end of such language seems to us more plausible. This sort of thing is not banter. There is no element of humour in it.

‘Although it is possible that two men in a robust working environment might use abusive language to each other without any bad feeling, there is a risk that it tips over into aggression. We conclude that that is what happened here.’

The tribunal rejected a claim by Mr Moore that he had been the victim of discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.

Mr Moore wrote in his complaint to the company: ‘Since Desmond started at the company he has done nothing but single me out and slurring [sic] abuse at me causing a lot of stress and sleepless nights. I feel intimidated at times, this isn’t acceptable. I am 55 years old and don’t come to work to be abused and victimised.’

The following month Mr Moore was signed off work by his GP for depression and he later decided he couldn’t return and resigned.

Judge Fowell concluded the remarks about Mr Moore created a ‘hostile and intimidating working environment and amounted to bullying and harassment’.

‘No element of humour’