Mr Taneja joined the company as an area sales manager in June 2021. He was highly regarded within the company’s sales team; however, his employment was terminated after a difficult initial meeting with a new sales director. Mr Taneja brought various claims in the employment tribunal including a claim for harassment related to race.

The tribunal held that the sales director’s repeated misnaming of Mr Taneja, even though corrected, was unwanted conduct that had the effect of violating his dignity and creating an atmosphere that was intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating and offensive. The tribunal held that his conduct amounted to an act of race-related harassment in breach of s.26 of the Equality Act 2010.

The tribunal awarded Mr Taneja £8,000 as compensation for injury to feelings, plus interest of £1,329. Taneja v Phoenix Whirlpools Ltd

Key Learning for small employers

As employers we should consider any useful points of learning or reflection, ie could this happen in my business. This case is an important reminder for employers that behaviour can amount to harassment in the absence of any deliberate intention to offend. Two key questions to ask are:

What training have we provided our employees?

Do we have an anti-harassment policy?

If you have completed training or have a policy, when did you last review the content? How long ago was the training run?

Please give us a call on 01483 362732 or email hello@guildford-hr.co.uk so we can discuss possible templates or bespoke solutions we can offer your business. We are part time HR Managers for small employers, and we have a lot of experience and can ensure training and policies have relevance in your business.