The old "race" card

[Jay]

We had a member of staff who handed his notice in as he had been offered “a much better position” for a new company, his notice was accepted and after 4 weeks he left. We heard nothing from him until last week, for reasons we can’t explain he has decided to request for job seekers allowance and the reason he put down for leaving us was that we racially abused him!

This guy was actually from the UK but with parents from Asian decent. No one ever made any comment about his race... in fact he was the one who was racist in many respects calling the corner shop “the Bin Laden shop”.

At the time I was technically his line manager so I am not sure if this is going to come back on me or not, any ideas? The MD knows that none of what he has said is true but I haven’t had a proper meeting with him about this.

I am totally disgusted by this

[dave87]

Did he formally hand in his notice? If so, did he state the reason for him leaving?

If he did (ie in writing) and he put in his reasons for leaving, it is likely not to be entirely conclusive, but at least convincing.

Are there procedures in place where you work for such a situation? If so, and he didn't follow them, or make it known, then I highly doubt he is likely to have much of a leg to stand on.


However, that is not to say that he won't try it on, and without sounding too pessimistic, if he is determined then there isn't much you can do to defend yourself (and the company) apart from refuting all his claims.

However, IANAL, and in such a situation, I would strongly suggest Legal Counsel for the companies sake.

[Jay]

He never said anything about it as far as we knew he had a new job thats all he ever said, he had worked here for 4 years, he was on the edge of getting the push due to issues with him lying all the time. Just goes to show he is still lying, we all had a feeling he was actually trying to get a pay rise thinking we would ask him to stay.

[dave87]

Do you have any documented evidence as to his dishonesty/half truths?

If so, that is your answer. If he was about to be kicked before he left voluntarily, then that will be again quite persuasive. It does however depend on how determined he is to pursue any option he may be given.

[Jay]

I have no documentation about any of this because he never came to me directly about him leaving he went above me, I am assuming the MD will have his written notice etc. Won't they think it’s odd that he never spoke to us, said he had a new job on his resignation letter and never went to Citizens Advice?

[dave87]

Indeed, that would be what I'd suggest being able to highlight, as it would be your best defence. As I say, rhyme and reason often doesn't apply to the law, so getting legal counsel would be the best way forward if there is any substantiated claim brought against you.

I doubt there will be though, unless it is an independent aid/pressure group acting on the facts as they have been portrayed (in whichever light is most favourable).

Just thinking, did anyone request a reference for him?

[Jay]

nope, nothing at all. We thought that was odd (I actually spoke to the MD about that)

Its sad though as some people do have abuse issues and this guy is just trying to get money.

[scaryjim]

I'd take a punt that he handed his notice in because he thought it'd get him a pay rise, when that failed he went to the job centre they pointed out that he won't get JSA if he left the position voluntarily, so he desperately said the first thing that came to mind in terms of a "good" reason to leave, hoping to get his JSA and probably not even thinking about how it would affect you lot.

As long as your company has documentary evidence of him stating that he left due to finding another job, and he never raised any abuse issues while employed by the company, you shouldn't have any issue, but definitely make sure the company takes legal advice and is ready to defend any action that might be taken against them. I think it would be up to him to demonstrate that he was abused rather than your company to prove he wasn't, but I don't know enough about these matters to say for sure.

[nibbler]

Sounds like a complete idiot to me. Good luck is all I can say.

[dave87]

Nibbler - "The Stupid are cocksure, the Intelligent are full of doubt". I think the application is readily apparent

[Aard]

you got to feel sorry for people like this

scum who have no shame and want something for nothing

thing is he will probably win knowing the court costs and time will be more than the payout

this coutry is getting more and more like america court wise

i wish we had sane judges who would just take one look at this, throw it out and fine the guy claimed for wasting company and court time

[matty-hodgson]

There really is nothing that winds me up more than people "playing the race card". It absolutely drives me up the wall.

So what if you're black, yellow, green, rainbow, turqoise or maybe even see-through, you can't wriggle out of ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING just because of your skin colour!

Fair enough if they were racist, but 90% of the time, they're not!

Kept my rant short .

[Rave]

Vexatious discrimination claims are, sadly, a fact of life. In a previous job I've seen a tribunal claim lodged against the kindest, nicest person I've ever worked for- a devout Christian and a thoroughly decent man. The claim was of course thrown out, but not before it caused a lot of grief for him and his team.

Take legal advice, and keep all your evidence. TBH though, if the bloke never raised an internal grievance and/or didn't speak to his union/ citizens advice/ senior management before he left, then I'd say this is just going to be an annoying waste of your time.