Unity Magazine - Special Edition - April 2005

Statement of Case

1. On 6 Oct 2003 a racist incident investigation report was submitted to the Corporate Equality Officer at Devon County Council. This related to the sale of a cobbler's shoe last. The description of the object posted on the Devon County Council Intranet site contained the racially offensive term 'nigger' in the advert. The advert was removed within 24 hours of the complaint being raised.

2. Subsequently Yacob Cajee, Branch Equalities and Black Members Officer, UNISON Devon produced a document on behalf of UNISON entitled 'A Preliminary Guide to the Use of Language in the Context of Race'. This was broadly welcomed by the County Council although not agreed as formal Council policy.

3. An officer in the Environment Directorate subsequently entered into email correspondence with Mr Cajee, relating to, amongst other things, the content of this Guide. This culminated in an email from the officer, where, in a failed and unacceptable attempt at humour, the officer made play on the use of the words 'nigger' and 'black', amongst other things.

4. Following Devon County Council management intervention the officer involved apologised the same day for this email and Mr Cajee accepted that apology.

5. However, a few months later this officer and Mr Cajee again entered into email correspondence in relation to an apparently unrelated work matter. However, the officer responded to Mr Cajee's further email correspondence using exactly the same wording which Mr Cajee had used in his original response to the previous unacceptable email.

6. Mr Cajee brought a grievance on the basis that the second email amounted to victimisation on the grounds that he had earlier complained that the former email had amounted to harassment.

7. Devon County Council agree that the content of the original email was racially offensive and wholly unacceptable. They further agree that the second email constituted victimisation within the meaning of the Race Relations Act 1976 and have no hesitation in apologising to Mr Cajee for the offence and hurt caused by both the racially offensive language used in the first email and the clear reference to the first email correspondence in the subsequent email.

8. UNISON and Devon County Council have been working together for some time to push forward the equalities agenda within Devon County Council. Both Devon County Council and UNISON were aware that there are issues surrounding awareness including in relation to the use of language which needed to be addressed as part of the overall equality agenda. This case has highlighted that need.

9. In 2003 the Council commissioned an external equality consultant to assist in identifying the learning needs of employees in relation to equality issues. A number of other staff were consulted as part of this process, which amongst other things highlighted the following areas:

• Employees need to be able to recognise discrimination and victimisation when it occurs.
  
  
• Unacceptable behaviour needs to be handled in the workplace and managers need to be clear on their responsibilities and the support available to them in dealing with these issues.
  
  
• How to adopt a person centred approach in investigating such instances and supporting those affected.

This work was being carried out at the time these incidents occurred and a Countywide training programme is now underway with specific programmes dealing with the areas identified above.

10. New corporate guidance has also been agreed to assist managers in placing equality at the centre of their thinking and ensuring it is taken into account as decisions are made and reviewed, as required under the Equalities Standard in respect of equality impact and needs assessments.

11. As a result of the original complaint about the advertisement and because the process for dealing with complaints was highlighted in the instant case, the process for dealing with complaints of discrimination is currently under review. So far the review has identified the need for robust corporate procedures to deal with complaints of discrimination, which staff are encouraged to follow. The County Council has also identified that it would be useful for staff to have more information on the avenues open to them if they see or are the subject of discrimination and identifying the support available to them.

This in turn relates back to the corporate training programme underway on recognising and investigating incidents of discrimination.

12. The circumstances of this case have assisted in focussing on learning needs and identifying areas for improvement, which have been incorporated into the three year development programme.

13. Devon County Council is committed to a coordinated corporate approach to equality training and continues to work with UNISON to advance within the Equality Standard for Local Government. Devon County Council is determined to eradicate discrimination and harassment from the workplace. Any occurrence of discrimination or harassment will be treated as a serious breach of the standards and conduct expected of employees and will be dealt with accordingly.