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Employee awarded £25k after manager repeatedly shouted “potato” at her
April 7, 2026
By Owen John
What may be intended as humour in the workplace can, in many cases, amount to unlawful discrimination.
Our employment law expert, Owen John, examines a recent Employment Tribunal decision in which an employee was awarded compensation of nearly £25,000 after it was found that her manager’s conduct amounted to harassment relating to her Irish race.
In the recently-published case of Hayes v West Leeds Civils Ltd, the claimant, Ms Hayes, worked as a bookkeeper for a civil engineering firm.
The firm’s director, Mr Atkins, made a number of comments towards Ms Hayes over the course of 6 months which related to her Irish nationality. This included repeatedly saying “potato” in a mock Irish accent, and using the terms “paddy” and “pikey” and making jokes about the travelling community. Despite Ms Hayes informing Mr Atkins several times that she didn’t find this funny, Mr Atkins continued with the comments and insisted they were just jokes.
Ms Hayes subsequently said she was thinking about leaving the firm and raised a grievance about discrimination on the basis of her Irish race due to the comments made by Mr Atkins, as well as about the behaviour of another manager (Mr Smith) and the toxic workplace environment.
After Ms Hayes formally raised these complaints, Mr Atkins and Mr Smith attempted to recruit a replacement for her (even though she hadn’t handed in her notice) and started a disciplinary process against her for allegedly fabricating information for a mortgage application. Ms Hayes was later dismissed.
The Employment Tribunal found that Ms Hayes had been harassed on the ground of race for the jokes and comments made to her by Mr Atkins which mocked her Irish accent and nationality.
The Tribunal also found that the disciplinary process brought against Ms Hayes amounted to an act of victimisation for the complaints she had raised.
In addition, the Tribunal found that the employer had failed to give her a contract of employment at the start of her employment and this was a breach of the Employment Rights Act 1996.
The Tribunal awarded Ms Hayes compensation totalling over £23,500.
Harassment and victimisation are treated as types of discrimination under the Equality Act 2010.
Any act of unwanted conduct relating to a protected characteristic (such as race, beliefs, sex, age, or sexual orientation) which violates a claimant’s dignity in the workplace can be classed as unlawful harassment.
Any attempt to retaliate against someone for raising a complaint of discrimination or harassment, such as trying to remove them from their role, can amount to victimisation and is also unlawful.
If an employee is dismissed or resigns as a result of being harassed or victimised, the legal, reputational and financial consequences for employers can be serious. These types of claims can entitle employees to significant compensation for not just financial loss but also “injury to feelings” as a result of discrimination.
From October 2026, employees will be able to bring Employment Tribunal claims over these types of issues up to 6 months after an act of discrimination, harassment or victimisation takes place, due to changes to employment law being introduced by the Employment Rights Act 2025.
This case is a prime example of how not having the correct HR policies and training in place can go wrong for an employer. The employer in this case hadn’t provided adequate training to its managers on how to conduct themselves appropriately at work, how to avoid discriminating against or harassing employees, and how to conduct grievance and disciplinary procedures correctly.
The employer also reacted in completely the wrong way by starting a disciplinary process against Ms Hayes after she raised these complaints. Had legal advice been taken at an early stage, the employer could still have salvaged the situation and avoided the costs and reputational damage which it’s suffered through a public Employment Tribunal hearing.
Finally, the icing on the cake for the employer was that it also hadn’t provided Ms Hayes with a compliant contract of employment, which resulted in her receiving an extra £2,800 as compensation. It’s a legal requirement to provide employees with a compliant contract from day 1 of their employment.
Our employment law and HR experts can advise you on what you need to do to stay compliant with the law, and can review and update your policies and contracts of employment for you. We also regularly deliver training to employers in all these areas.
If you’re facing an Employment Tribunal claim, we can help steer you through that process and represent you in the proceedings, or assist you to reach a settlement if that is the best option for you.
Get in touch with Owen John using our contact form, or via 02920 829118 today to see how we can help you.
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