A Muslim-run company has been ordered to pay a Christian worker £2,550 after an email circulated suggesting he had received a promotion because he was white.
Christopher Turton was one of two white workers at the National Halal Food Group in Birmingham and an Employment Tribunal heard that after Mr Turton was promoted at the company, he saw an e-mail in which a colleague suggested he was being given an unfair advantage, asking: ‘Is it because he is white?’.
The e-mail, understood to have been sent from an employee of the firm to a self-employed worker and seen by Mr Turton, also stated that Mr Turton was not a ‘Muslim brother’ and added ‘Allah is the provider’.
The Tribunal was also informed that the email claimed Mr Turton had only been employed by the company to impress customers.
It then heard that Mr Turton found the email “extremely offensive” and as a result, signed himself off work with stress and eventually resigned from the company.
Mr Turton was awarded £2,550 at an Employment Tribunal in Birmingham after seeking compensation from the Halal Food Group for race and religious discrimination, and it was revealed that Tribunal Judges found in the claimant’s favour on both counts.
Delivering the verdict, Tribunal Judge, Miss Victoria Dean, said Mr Turton had found the email racist and offensive and said there had been an injury to his feelings.
She initially awarded him £3,000 but this was reduced to £2,550 because he had failed to lodge an official grievance to the firm.
Miss Dean also recommended the company issue instructions to the workforce and team leaders, within six months, about equal opportunities policies.