Comparing workplace conditions to slavery is racial harassment, tribunal rules

Telegraph

05-08-2025

A black warehouse worker won a race harassment claim after a colleague graffitied 'slave' in reference to their working conditions.
An employment tribunal ruled that Seedy Fofana was entitled to £3,000 compensation after he saw a graffiti of the word 'slave', which 'violated' his dignity.
The intended use of the word was nothing to do with race but was an expression of another staff member's frustration at being 'over-worked and under paid', the tribunal heard.
'Violating dignity'
Employment Judge David Hughes concluded that even though the colleague 'did not intend to write a graffito that related to race', the term slave does 'evoke in contemporary English speakers the enslavement of black people'.
He added: 'Mr Fofana, an evidently-proud black man, feels the evil of slavery viscerally. That is understandable and respectable. We accept his sense of hurt at the graffito is genuine.'
He found that 'the graffito did have the effect of violating the [Mr Fofana's] dignity, and creating a hostile, humiliating and offensive environment for him'.
The hearing in Bristol was told Mr Fofana was the only black man at Window Widgets in Gloucester, where he started working in September 2023.
In August 2022, co-worker Tony Bennett had taken to writing graffiti referencing 'modern slavery' and 'slavery' around the warehouse in protest against the working conditions.
The tribunal heard that this included writing the words 'Slave No.' with an arrow pointing to the number three on a forklift-type piece of equipment.
Bosses removed all of the graffiti except one they had not spotted, but Mr Fofana saw it in December 2023.
He resigned the following month, complaining about the hostile behaviour of staff towards him and then sued the company, claiming £500,000 in compensation.
Workplace 'banter'
The warehouse had a history of 'banter' within the workplace and several staff had been warned about not crossing a professional boundary, the tribunal heard.
One incident saw a colleague sing the songs Bombastic and Iron Lion Zion to Mr Fofana, but they denied any offensive intent.
At the tribunal Mr Fofana argued the 'Slave' graffiti caused him to resign, although he admitted he did not report it to
anyone, or attempt to remove it himself.
He said he had no confidence bosses would investigate properly and that it wasn't his job to clean it up.
Employment Judge Hughes said: 'We understand that it was not for him to remove the graffito – why should he clean up someone else's vandalism?' but he added that it could not be removed if no one reported it.
He said the company 'cannot be criticised for not addressing a problem of which they were unaware'.
Relation to race
Upholding Mr Fofana's race harassment claim, he concluded that Mr Bennett wrote the word in August 2022, and did so while employed by Window Widgets.
He added: 'It may seem harsh to [the company], but that means that [they] wrote the graffito.
'Equally harsh may seem the conclusion that [Window Widgets] failed to remove a graffito that went unnoticed. But that finding is inevitable.
'We have found that the graffito did relate to race.'
However, the tribunal said Mr Fofana's claim for half a million pounds in damages was 'unrealistic'.
'This was a hurtful graffito, but it was one written by a rogue employee, not intended to refer to [his] race, in not prominent writing.
'The [company's] management of the workplace certainly had shortcomings, but we have found that management was not
aware of the graffito, and when it learnt of it, took appropriate steps.'