Mr S. Gehlen, who is of Indian origin, was employed by Allay as a Senior Data Analyst from 3 October 2016 until his dismissal on 15 September 2017.
Following his dismissal, Mr Gehlen stated that he had been subject to racial harassment by another employee during the course of his employment. In light of this allegation, Allay carried out an investigation which found that racial comments had been made, but that the other employee deemed them to
be ‘banter’.
Mr Gehlen proceeded to bring an employment tribunal claim for racial harassment, which was upheld by the tribunal. The tribunal also found that two of Mr Gehlen’s managers were aware of the racist comments, but failed to take any appropriate action.
Allay argued that it had taken all reasonable steps to prevent the harassment, and therefore should
not be liable.
The
steps
relied
upon
by
Allay
included:
• Having in place an equal opportunity policy
• Having anti-bullying and harassment procedures
• Providing training in equality,
diversity, bullying, and harassment
to its employees in 2015/2016