A black man from Nigeria who was allegedly called a chimpanzee and subjected to monkey noises by his team leader has been awarded €30,000 for racial discrimination.
Recruitment firm CPL Solutions Ltd, trading as Flexsource Recruitment, was ordered to pay the €30,000 to agency worker Victor Kings Oluebube for racial discrimination under the Employment Equality Act.
During the two alleged racist incidents, Mr Kings Oluebube was assigned by Dublin-based firm CPL Solutions Ltd to Kuehne & Nagel as a warehouse operative.
At the Labour Court today, Deputy Chairman Alan Haugh ordered human resources company CPL Solutions to pay out the €30,000 after finding that the firm “is vicariously liable for the harassment in question”.
Mr Haugh stated that in regard to the serious nature of the harassment and the effects that it has had on Mr Kings Oluebube, the redress for Mr Kings Oluebube should be dissuasive and proportionate to the injury suffered by him.
The €30,000 award is equivalent to approximately 63 weeks’ gross pay.
Mr Haugh said that CPL Solutions was not able to avail of legal defences to racial harassment under the Employment Equality Acts after evidence was heard that no steps were taken to reverse the effects of the racial harassment experienced by Mr Kings Oluebube.
Source: Irish Mirror.