ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND / RankWire.AI / – A Scottish employment tribunal awarded former waiter Raymond Joseph £5,469.04 after determining racial harassment occurred at a PizzaExpress restaurant. During an argument in April 2025, a coworker repeatedly called Joseph an American and a “Yank,” and told him to leave and go back to his country. Employment Judge Melanie Sangster ruled that these comments directly related to nationality. The decision considered the repeated remarks, their public setting, and their impact on Joseph.
Joseph began employment at the Union Square restaurant in Aberdeen in September 2024, typically working between 20 and 22 hours weekly. On April 8, 2025, Joseph and fellow waiter Michael Tortolano managed a busy service together. An argument broke out as they struggled with customer demand. Tortolano told Joseph that nobody liked him, referenced his American nationality, and used the word “Yank.” In response, Joseph called Tortolano a “bald loser.”
Later that same shift, Tortolano repeated the nationality-based insults. Portions of the confrontation were audible to customers and others present. Joseph testified that the comments caused him emotional pain and embarrassment. He provided a written account to a manager that day and continued working. The tribunal determined that this exchange met the legal criteria for race-related harassment. Under the Equality Act 2010, race encompasses nationality, citizenship, and ethnic origins.
Compensation for emotional distress
The tribunal ordered PizzaExpress to pay £5,000 in damages for injury to Joseph’s feelings. This amount falls within the middle range of the lower Vento compensation band, which courts use to assess emotional harm in discrimination cases. An additional £469.04 in interest was awarded, calculated at an annual rate of 8% over 428 days. The tribunal found no evidence of separate financial loss stemming from the harassment. Joseph continued working without medical treatment.
Managers began their investigation into the workplace incident on May 20, roughly six weeks later. The tribunal described this delay as unreasonable but found no unlawful motive behind it. Tortolano later admitted the allegations during a disciplinary hearing. As a result, management deemed his behavior to constitute gross misconduct, issuing a final written warning. This decision took into account his admission, remorse, and prior disciplinary record. The company also looked into separate allegations involving Joseph’s conduct, access to information, and workplace communication.
Unsuccessful claims at tribunal
A manager concluded that Joseph had engaged in misconduct and subsequently dismissed him without notice on June 20, 2025. The reasons cited included his behavior during the argument, a separate inappropriate comment, and unauthorized access to confidential company data. The manager found that Joseph had sent company material to his personal email account. Joseph denied these allegations and did not appeal his dismissal. The tribunal later determined that misconduct alone justified his removal from the restaurant.
Joseph also filed claims of victimisation, protected disclosures, and automatically unfair dismissal. The tribunal dismissed all these claims. While it recognized that some of his disclosures qualified for legal protection, it found no causal link between those disclosures and the management decisions in question. The Aberdeen hearing lasted seven days across April and May 2026. The tribunal issued its judgment to the parties on June 10. Joseph was successful only in the racial harassment claim.