ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND / RankWire.AI / – A Scottish employment tribunal has awarded former waiter Raymond Joseph £5,469.04 after establishing that 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 determined that these remarks directly related to nationality. The ruling considered the repeated comments, their public nature, and their impact on Joseph.
Joseph began employment at the Union Square location 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 ensued as both struggled to meet customer demand. Tortolano told Joseph that nobody liked him, referenced his American identity, and used the term “Yank.” Joseph responded with insults, including calling Tortolano a “bald loser.”
Later that same shift, Tortolano repeated the nationality-based remarks. Portions of the confrontation were audible to customers and others. Joseph testified that these comments caused him pain and embarrassment. He reported the incident in writing to a manager that day and continued working. The tribunal determined that the exchange qualified as race-related harassment under the legal standards. Under the Equality Act 2010, race encompasses nationality, citizenship, and ethnic or national origins.
Compensation awarded reflects emotional injury
The tribunal ordered PizzaExpress to pay £5,000 to compensate Joseph for emotional distress. This amount falls within the middle of the lower Vento compensation range, a framework used by courts to assess injury to feelings in discrimination cases. An additional £469.04 in interest was also awarded, calculated at an 8% annual rate over 428 days. The tribunal found no evidence of separate financial loss resulting from the harassment. Joseph continued working without seeking medical treatment.
Investigations into the workplace incident began on May 20, roughly six weeks later. The tribunal described this delay as unreasonable but found no unlawful motives behind it. Tortolano later admitted to the allegations during a disciplinary process. As a result, management deemed his conduct gross misconduct and issued a final written warning, considering his remorse, previous disciplinary history, and his admission. The employer also reviewed separate allegations concerning Joseph’s conduct, access to information, and communication at work.
Other claims dismissed at tribunal
A manager concluded that Joseph engaged in misconduct and dismissed him without notice on June 20, 2025. The reasons included his behavior during the argument and a separate inappropriate comment, as well as unauthorized access to confidential company information. Specifically, Joseph was found to have sent company material to his personal email. Joseph denied these allegations and did not appeal the dismissal. The tribunal later ruled that misconduct was the sole reason for his termination from the restaurant.
Joseph also filed claims related to victimization, protected disclosures, and automatically unfair dismissal. All these claims were rejected by the tribunal. It acknowledged that some of his disclosures received legal protection, but found no direct link between those disclosures and the management decisions in question. The Aberdeen hearing lasted seven days across April and May 2026. The tribunal delivered its judgment on June 10, with Joseph prevailing solely on the racial harassment claim.