An Irish bookkeeper has won an employment tribunal against her boss after he repeatedly shouted “potato” at her.
Bernadette Hayes, from Ossett, West Yorkshire, has been awarded £23,000 after a tribunal ruled she was racially harassed at work.
From late 2023, over a six-month period, Ms Hayes, then 55, faced the abuse from her English boss, Mick Atkins, whilst working at a civil engineering company in Leeds, the tribunal heard.
Mr Atkins, the company director, would incessantly shout “potato” in a mocking Irish accent to Ms Hayes during conversations or when she entered work.
Ms Hayes had worked at West Leeds Civils, a building and civil engineering business, since September 2021, as an office and finance manager, the Times reports.
From December 2023 to June 2024, the Irish bookkeeper claimed Mr Atkins had also used language such as “paddy”, “stupid paddy” and “pikey”.
She said she had suffered “death by a thousand cuts” as a result of the name-calling at her work.
Despite telling her boss she did not find his comments amusing, she did play along on one occasion, by sending a potato emoji in a text message, to “fit in”, employment judge Sophie Buckley concluded.
HMCTS Leeds Employment Tribunal in the city centre
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Ms Hayes said her company director made occasional comments about her Irish heritage, but the name-calling ramped up after Marcus Smith started working in the communications department.
The two of them apparently both targeted the office and finance manager, including calling her “potato” on WhatsApp.
She said she was too frightened to confront her harassers as she feared losing her job, which wasn’t an option as her personal circumstances had changed, describing that she felt “trapped”.
Speaking to the tribunal, Ms Hayes recounted how Mr Atkins would say she was lusting after the travellers outside the office, referring to her as gypsy due to her Irish ancestry.
West Leeds Civils is registered in Holbeck, south Leeds
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She said the campaign of teasing meant she suffered panic attacks and insomnia after working at the Leeds-based firm.
The bookkeeper was sacked in August 2024 over allegations of fraud, but later raised claims of direct race discrimination, harassment and victimisation to the employment tribunal in Leeds.
Judge Buckley dismissed the claim of race discrimination, but upheld the accusation of race harassment and victimisation in part.
Ms Hayes was awarded £23,526 in compensation, including £13,000 for “injury to feelings” and just over £6,000 for loss of earnings.
The judge concluded it was clear the claimant had despised going to work during her boss’s campaign of teasing.
Judge Buckley said she had accepted the claimant had joined in on a small number of occasions, but that for the majority of the time, Ms Hayes had not participated.
She said she believed the behaviour had been an attempt by the woman to make light of the situation and fit in with colleagues, adding that she accepted her evidence that the conduct was not actually welcomed.
She also said it was reasonable for someone of Irish heritage to find repeated references to terms such as “potato”, “paddy”, “stupid paddy” and “pikey” offensive and humiliating.
The judge added the phrases were overtly linked to race, particularly when considered together.
Mr Atkins has regarded the tribunal proceedings as “nonsense from start to finish”.
On West Leeds Civils’ website, they say their staff are their “most valuable asset” and they “recruit specifically to meet the challenges set by a highly competitive and technical industry”.
The Leeds-based civil engineering firm continues: “We encourage openness and demand the highest possible levels of commitment, quality and transparency from our staff, values that we know are recognised and shared by our long-standing clients.”
