Seedy Fofana, a Black man, became the first of his race to work at Window Widgets in Gloucester. He has received £3,000 in damages after an employment tribunal ruled that graffiti about slavery constituted a discriminatory workplace harassment. The state’s case paints an alarming picture of racial insensitivity and a lack of workplace civility.
Window Widgets manufactures plastic and metal window components that help make windows more energy efficient. Fofana bore this heavy load of slavery, personally and historically. While conducting a stock-take in the LAB’s warehouse, he noticed multiple examples of graffiti. One powerful piece of graffiti announced with difficult beauty, “Slave No. An arrow literally aimed at the number 3 on a Hubtex machine.
Fofana decided against reporting the graffiti at first. It was the vitriolic climate that ultimately drove him to announce his resignation the next month. His resignation came on the heels of complaints about a pattern of discriminatory conduct in the workplace.
Fofana then sued Window Widgets, demanding £500,000 in damages. The original case was heard by employment judge David Hughes and decided in favour of Fofana. Judge Hughes found the graffiti racially motivated. He repeatedly then underscored that referring to a person as a “slave” disrespected Fofana’s workplace dignity.
“This is because the term ‘slave’ will, we find, evoke in contemporary English speakers the enslavement of Black people. All right-thinking people regard slavery as a monstrosity.” – Judge David Hughes
In its decision, the tribunal placed value on making an inclusive environment. Employers need to remove all racially charged language and imagery. Indeed, this provides a very important cautionary tale. To keep things like this from ever happening again, we need to address toxic workplace culture at its core.