UK: XEROX SUED FOR $16M. OVER ALLEGED RACIAL ABUSE

[Anonymous]

http://www.computerworlduk.com/management/careers-hr/my-career/news/index.cfm?newsid=10184
Xerox sued for £8m over alleged racial abuse
Policies alone ‘not enough’ to prevent racism at work, says employment law expert
Xerox,
the printer and photocopier supplier, is being sued by a former
employee for £8 million over alleged racial abuse.Nardos Mulugeta, an
Ethiopian national, is claiming that as a result of the abuse at work
he attempted suicide on two occasions, according to reports.He claims
another member of staff had said he was “lucky to be working with us –
his grandfather used to work as a servant”, and had said he wanted
Mulugeta to “go home”.Mulugeta was signed off work in 2004 with
depression, and says Xerox blocked him from seeing a counsellor and
prevented him from transferring to another office, it was reported in
the Daily Mail newspaper.

Xerox said in a statement that it denied the charges and would “vigorously defend” its position.
“It
is Xerox’s policy to provide a working environment free of
discrimination. We take all allegations of this nature very seriously,
and support diversity across all aspects of business,” it added.Matthew
Tom, senior employment solicitor at law firm Blake Lapthorn Tarlo
Lyons, said that having a policy against racism was not enough in
itself to stop the problem in many businesses, even though it was an
important step.“It’s very hard to say this is enough,” he said. “You
need a track record of the right training, and of severe discipline of
staff who break the rules.”“That’s the legal position – on a practical
level you need to nip the problem in the bud at an early stage,” he
said, adding that negative publicity in such situations can be “very
bad” for companies.

Businesses in Xerox’s position, of being
sued for racial abuse, sometimes claim that the incidents took place
outside work. But in this case it has been reported that at least some
of the discrimination took place in the office.Another possible
argument in such a situation, Tom said, is that the wrongdoing employee
was at fault instead of the company, which would argue it had strict
policies and controls in place. But shifting responsibility to the
employee is “a very difficult test to pass” in court, he said.A company
taking this line would be expected to show a “consistent pattern of
severe discipline” of any staff committing racial abuse, he said.

[Author]

July 24, 2008 at 11:28 AM