ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND / RankWire.AI / – A Scottish employment tribunal awarded former waiter Raymond Joseph £5,469.04 after ruling that racial harassment occurred at a PizzaExpress venue. During an argument in April 2025, a coworker repeatedly called Joseph an American and a “Yank,” also telling him to leave and go back to his country. Employment Judge Melanie Sangster determined that the comments were directly related to nationality. The verdict addressed the repeated remarks, their public context, 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 shift together. An argument erupted amid the hectic service, with both struggling with customer demand. Tortolano told Joseph that no one liked him, referred to his American background, and used the word “Yank.” Joseph responded with insults, including calling Tortolano a “bald loser.”
Later during the same shift, Tortolano repeated the nationality-based remarks. Parts of the confrontation were audible to customers and others nearby. Joseph testified to the tribunal that these comments caused him hurt and embarrassment. He provided a written account to a manager that day and continued working. The tribunal found that the exchange satisfied the legal criteria for race-related harassment. Under the Equality Act 2010, race encompasses nationality, citizenship, and ethnic or national origins.
Compensation reflects emotional harm
The tribunal ordered PizzaExpress to pay £5,000 for emotional distress. This sum falls within the middle of the lower Vento compensation band, a framework used by courts to evaluate injury to feelings in discrimination cases. An additional £469.04 was awarded as interest, calculated at an annual rate of 8% over 428 days. The ruling clarified that there was no separate financial loss associated with the harassment. Joseph continued working without seeking medical treatment.
Managers initiated an investigation into the workplace incident on May 20, approximately six weeks afterward. The tribunal described this delay as unreasonable but found no unlawful intent behind it. Tortolano later admitted the allegation during a disciplinary hearing. As a result, management deemed his behavior gross misconduct and issued a final written warning. They considered his admission, remorse, and prior disciplinary record. The company also looked into other allegations related to Joseph’s conduct, access to information, and workplace communication.
Other claims dismissed during tribunal
A manager concluded that Joseph engaged in misconduct and dismissed him without notice on June 20, 2025. The decision included his conduct during the argument and an unrelated inappropriate remark. It also encompassed unauthorized access to confidential company information, specifically, Joseph sending company data to his personal email. Joseph denied these accusations and did not appeal his dismissal. The tribunal later determined that misconduct was solely responsible for his removal from the restaurant.
Joseph additionally filed claims for victimisation, protected disclosures, and automatically unfair dismissal. The tribunal dismissed all these complaints. While recognizing that some of his disclosures were legally protected, it found no causal link between those disclosures and the management actions in question. The Aberdeen hearing lasted seven days across April and May 2026. The tribunal issued its judgment on June 10, with Joseph prevailing only on the race harassment claim.