Woman wins $31,000 in racial discrimination suit after boss repeatedly shouted ‘potato’ at her

An Irish woman in the UK has been awarded a large payout after being repeatedly mocked by her employer.

While employed as a bookkeeper at a civil engineering company in Leeds, UK, Irish woman Bernadette Hayes has said she suffered repeated humiliation by her employer.

Hayes, who was 55 at the time, added that she faced a ‘hostile, humiliating and offensive’ environment.

She claimed that the company director at West Leeds Civils LTD, Mick Atkins, would shout ‘potato’ in a strong Irish accent and use language like ‘paddy’, ‘stupid paddy’ and ‘p*key’ in front of her when they would disagree at work.

This behavior took place over six months from the end of 2023 and Hayes went on to say that it made her feel like she ‘suffered a death by 1,000 cuts.'

Leeds Employment Tribunal where Hughes was told she had won her case (Google)

Following the decision, she has been awarded £23,000 ($31,000).

Due to the UK’s Equality Act 2010, ‘race’ includes color, nationality and ethnic or national origins.

This means that discrimination against someone based on their nationality can be treated as race discrimination.

The tribunal also heard that Akins had made reference to her race previously, but that his behavior ramped up after another man, Marcus Smith, joined the company.

They were also made aware that Hayes did ‘join in’ on a small number of occasions, in referring to herself as a 'potato’ but did so ‘in an attempt to make light’ of the situation.

Speaking to the tribunal Hayes said she ultimately felt ‘physically sick’ when walking into the office and ‘dreaded’ being mocked by the pair.

She added that she told her boss that she did not find the comments funny but was scared to ask him to stop because he was an ‘intimidating, volatile character’.

She also noted: “This totally eroded my self-respect and my self-esteem.

Hughes said the ordeal eroded her self-respect and self-esteem(Getty Stock Images)

“It made me feel small, insecure, violated and extremely anxious. It also made me feel embarrassed.”

The ruling at the Leeds Employment Tribunal by Judge Buckley allowed the claim of race harassment and victimization in part, but dismissed the claim of race discrimination.

Speaking on the matter, they said: “From a subjective point of view, it clearly created a hostile, humiliating and offensive environment for her.

“In my view, taken as a whole, it is reasonable for an individual of Irish heritage to find the repeated use of the terms ‘potato’, ‘Paddy’, ‘stupid Paddy’ and ‘p*key’ offensive and humiliating.

“These phrases are overtly linked to race, particularly when considered together rather than in isolation. On that basis, I find that the conduct was linked to race.”