AN NHS receptionist has won a racial harassment case because his boss neglected to tell him a cleaner had referred to him as a 'black sack'. Charles Sterling was awarded compensation after successfully claiming his manager 'violated his dignity' by not telling him he had been the subject of racist abuse.
Health service clinic boss Sarah Taylor immediately reprimanded the cleaner for her comments and but did not tell Mr Sterling about it because she 'thought it would upset him unnecessarily,' an employment tribunal was told. But keeping him in the dark about the incident was an act of harassment itself, the panel has ruled, as it could have led to a repeat of the abuse.
Mr Sterling - who is of Caribbean heritage - has now won £1,000 in compensation from the NHS for injury to feelings. The tribunal was told Mr Sterling had worked as a receptionist and clerical officer at a sexual and reproductive health clinic run by the Seacroft Hospital in Leeds, West Yorks, since 2019.
