Preventing race discrimination – What employers can learn from recent tribunal cases
Published Oct 28, 2025
Recent research has shown that between 2017 and 2024 the number of race discrimination claims has tripled. The primary reasons are likely to be increased awareness by employees of legal protections and a growing willingness to call out both blatant and “unconscious” bias.
In this article we will look at what employers can learn from two recent cases.
Accents and harassment
In the case of Miss Carozzi vs University of Hertfordshire, an Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) found that comments about an employee’s accent was harassment related to race. In the case Carozzi, who is a Brazilian Jew, argued that comments by colleagues saying she was “hard to understand” violated her dignity.
The EAT found that an accent may form a key part of a person’s national or ethnic identity. It found that harassment does not require discriminatory intent. Instead, a comment only needed to be related to race and be considered as offensive for it to be deemed as harassment.
Learning for employers
Focus on prevention by conducting awareness training for all employees.
Training needs to begin at induction to set the culture and standards from day one.
Make awareness training an annual occurrence.
Assess how employees demonstrate respectful behaviours during annual reviews.
Consider implementing company values that underpin interactions as all levels.
By taking these actions, an employer can demonstrate they have taken all reasonable steps to prevent harassment.
Company cultures which tolerate racist comments
In a second case, Mr Mbonu successfully claimed at tribunal that his employer, the Secretary of State for Justice, had tolerated a culture where employees openly made racist remarks without consequence.
He argued that the acceptance of this culture led to a situation where allegations of misconduct against him resulted in him being dismissed for gross misconduct but other employees who faced similar allegations received lesser sanctions.
Mr Mbonu successfully argued that this inconsistency demonstrated less favourable treatment due to race.
Learning for employers
Consistency - The case of Mr Mbonu emphasises the need for consistency in how employers address concerns about conduct and performance. Employers need to adhere to their own disciplinary and capability processes to reduce the risks of employers claiming they are acting without consistency.
The need for consistency equally applies to decisions on recruitment, promotion and training.
Embed policies – Employers need to ensure that their harassment and bullying policy is reissued annually to employees and that awareness is reinforced. This can be through toolbox talks, team discussions, workshops or talking through real tribunal cases and what the team can learn from them.
Role model behaviours – Employers need to ensure that leaders role model the correct behaviours and demonstrate there can be no tolerance of racism.
Culture – The case of Mr Mbonu shows the importance of addressing a culture where harassment is tolerated. Incidents of harassment must be investigated and appropriate internal action taken against perpetrators. Otherwise company directors and organisational leaders risk tribunals and costly legal expenses.