Waitress Awarded Over £13,000 After Discrimination at Hotel

A teenage waitress has won more than £13,000 in compensation after being subjected to a tirade of abuse by her superiors for dropping an apple crumble. Daniesha Charles, who was 15 and working part-time at the Royal Thurso Hotel, was yelled at and sworn at by the chef and the general manager.

An employment tribunal ruled that Ms. Charles, who is Black British Caribbean, faced discrimination due to her age, sex, race, and disability. The tribunal awarded her £13,048 in compensation. Now 18, Ms. Charles experienced depression and anxiety as a result of the treatment. She worked at the hotel from May to June 2024, earning £7 an hour.

At the time of her employment, Ms. Charles was the youngest and only Black female staff member among a predominantly white, British workforce. She was also undertaking a college course three days a week, and her shifts impacted her studies. She informed her employers in June 2024 that she wished to reduce her working hours.

The tribunal heard that Ms. Charles had witnessed the chef and general manager, Andy Woodcock, directing abusive language at other staff members, including South African and Nepalese employees, but not at white male workers. The tribunal noted that the chef had shown contempt for Ms. Charles's race and gender from the outset, frequently referring to her with derogatory terms and shouting and swearing at her, creating an intimidating and hostile atmosphere. Ms. Charles did not initially complain to avoid jeopardizing her position.

In May 2024, Ms. Charles misspelled the word 'porridge' on an order slip for the chef, who responded by shouting, "that's not how you f***ing spell porridge." The tribunal found this conduct to be aggressive, intimidating, and upsetting for the 15-year-old, who felt humiliated and embarrassed.

On June 26, 2024, while serving a guest, a swing door caused Ms. Charles to drop a plate of apple crumble. When she informed the chef, he responded with "of course you did." Both the chef and general manager then allegedly "were in my face shouting and swearing at me," according to Ms. Charles. This incident left her in tears, and she was told to leave. Ms. Charles contacted her mother, who then complained to the hotel.

In an email dated June 30, 2024, Mr. Woodcock stated that if the hotel had been aware of Ms. Charles's anxiety and depression, they would not have placed her in that work environment, concluding that the only option was to terminate her employment. Employment Judge Joseph d'Inverno stated that the conduct violated Ms. Charles's dignity and created a hostile, degrading, humiliating, and offensive environment. The judge found that the chef and general manager had a pattern of shouting and swearing at female, young, non-white, and disabled staff, including Ms. Charles, while refraining from such behavior towards older, white, British male staff members.