'Degraded & humiliated' | Race harassment victory for Irish employee over 'potato' & 'stupid Paddy' comments

An Irish office manager whose boss repeatedly shouted “potato” at her “in a strong Irish accent”, alongside other insults, has won a race harassment and victimisation claim. 

An Employment Tribunal held in Leeds found that Ms B Hayes had been subjected to repeated comments about her Irish heritage over a six-month period at construction firm West Leeds Civils, including being called “potato”, “paddy”, “stupid paddy” and “pikey”. The tribunal also found the company later victimised her by pursuing “entirely baseless and historic allegations of gross misconduct” after she raised complaints.