Racism row | Employee accuses boss of treating her like an 'angry black woman'

A UK employee claimed in a tribunal that her boss treated her like an “angry black woman’ and that she was unfairly dismissed.

Louise Lewis, the claimant, alleges that her manager Andrew Fell used ‘racial connotations’ to identify her as being aggressive after she accused him of bullying and harassment, and that he told her he “could do what he wanted” because he was in charge, an allegation he denies.

Lewis, who worked as a PE teacher, sued the school for racial discrimination, claiming that Fell, a newly appointed head teacher, was attempting to portray her as a negative racial stereotype. “It was his perception of how black people and particularly black women are,” she explained in the hearing.

The tribunal pinpoints an accidental email sent by a National Education Union (NEU) representative detailing staff hours as a significant event in the case. Once the email was identified as inaccurate by Fell, he told staff to disregard the message in a meeting where Lewis wasn’t present.