An engineering storeman who was fired after saying “top of the morning to ya” in a mock Irish accent to a colleague has been awarded more than £16,000 (€18,500) for unfair dismissal, reports The Mirror.
Karl Davies, who was 57 at the time, had been employed at Oscar Mayer’s ready meal factory in Wrexham when the incident occurred on August 13, 2024. He greeted manager Scott Millward with the phrase while listening to Irish music, a tribunal in Mold heard.
At the time, Mr Millward had been showing around a “red-headed” external auditor, and he later reported Mr Davies to the company, which then opened an investigation to determine whether the comments could be considered racial harassment, the tribunal was told, reports The Mirror.
Davies reportedly repeated the phrase several times. Judge Vincent Ryan noted that he was “effectively channelling the musical vibe” during the incident.
The judge stated that Mr Davies had used the accent in a “reprehensible” and “mocking” fashion, and had intentionally irritated Mr Millward by repeatedly using the phrase “in a manner that Mr Millward was bound to find irritating and embarrassing”.
He said Davies’s intent was to provoke Mr Millward and make him feel uncomfortable, reports The Mirror.
He added: “I find that the purpose was not to racially harass Mr Millward, and there is no evidence before me that it had the effect, either, on anyone. It was nevertheless blameworthy as (Mr Davies) was subordinate to Mr Millward. It gave rise to the disciplinary proceedings and therefore contributed to the eventual sanction,” reports The Mirror.
The tribunal also heard that Mr Davies had no knowledge of the auditor’s identity and had not seen them; there was no indication that the auditor was Irish.
The internal investigation was carried out by a manager with whom Mr Davies had an unresolved grievance, the tribunal was told.
Judge Ryan noted that Oscar Mayer’s disciplinary case rested on the view that Mr Davies may have thought the auditor appeared “typically Irish”, reports The Mirror.
Although the company concluded Davies’s comment amounted to harassment, the tribunal found they had failed to consider his clean disciplinary record and 27 years of service at the company.
The ruling also found that the person selected to investigate was not “appropriate”, that witness statements lacked consistency, and that the investigation relied heavily on assumptions.
The judge said: “The claimant was accused of using an employment ending, reputation damaging, loss-inducing, racially motivated slur, a slur which could have created an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive working environment; these are serious matters. On the facts peculiar to this case, I found that the dismissal was unfair, which does not mean that I approve the use of the greeting in question or the use of mock accents,” reports The Mirror.
He added that the case was “not an indication of wokeness or anti-wokeness”, reports The Mirror.
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