Racist incident - protocol

[Wonderbug81]

I witnessed a racist incident today at work. The person involved is one of the most senior people in the company and they displayed racist behaviour towards someone more junior. The racism was also indirectly related to me as I'm the same race.

I was too shocked in the moment to say anything but want to raise a complaint with HR. I don't know how seriously they'll take it as the senior person oversees the HR team indirectly too! I'm also therefore concerned about being treated differently after I raise it.

Any advice on how I manage this e.g. I assume I should keep records, follow up conversations in writing over email etc? Feeling a bit of out of my depth.

What happened ? How did the person who was subject to this racism react ?

What kind of outcome are you looking for?

I think sometimes it takes others to show their solidarity with you in order to have the confidence to stand up to people like this. I would absolutely take it further. Keep records of everything, however small. I've been on the receiving end of racism at work and what hurt almost as much as the racist incidents was them being pretty much ignored or dismissed by other members of the team. Perpetrators often think everyone else has the same warped mentality as them so it's vital that others express their disapproval. Have you spoken to the victim? I would advise reporting it first if not, so you aren't accused of collusion.

I can't share the exact details here. The junior person gave a nervous kind of laugh. I don't know them as they're in a different office.

Do you have a union OP?

Partly I see it as a matter of principle. It affected me as well as the direct victim. I don't see why this person shoulf be able to get away with it.

What's also worse is the company goes on about DEI and this person, as part of the leadership team, says they're supporters of it.

I want it on record and I think the person should at a minimum apologise for what happened.

Thank you for saying that. This is what I'm wrestling with and I also thought, if I had been the direct victim, I'd want some support.

Sorry you had to experience this yourself and appreciate you sharing.

Should have said in first post but unfortunately no. It's a corporate job and no one belongs to a union.

Bloody hell, that's awful. Are you ok?

In my place of work this would be reported to my line manager, and I would also need to create an incident on the incident reporting system / database thing.

There's a very strictly defined policy and process to follow. Me not reporting it would also be a disciplinary matter should it come to light some other way. Possibly would be seen slightly differently if I also had the same characteristic, as in your case, and so was also a victim rather than purely an observer.

I would in your situation look up anything that might be a relevant policy/procedure and follow it to the absolute letter. I would be absolutely faultless in applying it so I couldn't be challenged on that at least.

Do you have any evidence / is there any cctv that records audio and may have picked up whatever happened?

Have you spoken to the other person who was involved? You may need to be careful about not being seen to be 'colluding' or something, but I'd probably want (as a human being, not to follow process) to check they're ok, tell them I'm reporting it, and ask if they want me to support them reporting it in any way. All of that would be allowed and recommended where I work, but may not be in your org so be careful.

IMO you’re absolutely right that this should be reported. It’s a pity that you can’t be supported by an external organisation, which is why I asked about a union. It is less likely to be brushed under the carpet or minimised then.

I'm not sure if this would work but would you be willing to put time in with this manager and tackle them directly? In the spirit of ‘I witnessed this and I’m really shocked at what you said and I wanted to ask you if you realised that it’s offensive’ That way you could gauge the sincerity of the person’s answer and make a decision based on that. You’d expect that anyone would be mortified to be pulled up on racism and work really hard to ensure that you chose not to take it further.

it also gives the message that a) you’re on to them and will be watching and b) you’re reasonable and have given them the chance to see the error of their ways.

Obviously if they’re not reasonable you’ll know to take it further but I’d be inclined to take a trusted colleague in to any meetings with you, for moral support but also so what’s been said can’t be twisted.

Thank you. I'm not feeling great but think I'd feel worse not saying anything.

I actually forgot about the employee handbook, will take a look there.

I can't speak to the employee as they work in another office and I don't know them. Hard to know how they'll react to me approaching them.

There were other people there so once I've reviewed the docs I'll think about whether to approach them.

Thank you. I probably should speak to them directly but not only are they senior they indirectly have a say on my career at this company because they're so senior. I'll think about it though.

Don't approach your colleague.
Report your concerns to your line manager and deal with it that way.

I had a very similar scenario (public sector organisation) and was surprised to hear that a number of other colleagues raised concerns as well.

Thank you. Good point about other people potentially also reporting it.

I really feel for you OP.

Just another thought I've had - do you have a staff network you could join / get support from, even to possibly raise it anonymously on your behalf?

We have a race equity network that would absolutely support with something like this.

You can still join a union, who can give advice. You won't have a rep in your workplace, but the union HQ can provide them if required. I have been very glad of my union membership a couple of times in my corporate job.

However, most unions won't take on an existing case, which this would be. It's still worth considering for the future, though, especially if you have senior managers who behave like this.

I hope it will be dealt with well.

I reckon more info needed. Racism can be blatant or subjective.

Some folk will say that the police describing a crime suspect as a particular race is racist. Surely that is subjective? Because race is a good way to identifying someone.

But if a Black Nigerian says " For a white fella, your King is ok ", I would say that is racist, because race is superfluous in this statement, and suggestive that "white" fellas are not ok.

Some might say I am being racist in this post by referring to a Nigerian as black.

Edit spelling.

Thank you. There's no such group unfortunately. There's a whole load of new DEI iniatives in the works and the company do a lot of talks and events for things like Black History Month but the foundations aren't really there.

I didn't know that, really useful to know thank you.

Same at my work, I am duty bound to report

Was the racism deliberate or ignorant? Either way needs tackled but perhaps differently. I would have a look at the procedures and chat with your line manager. In our workplace it would come under the prevention of harassment policy.

It was ridicule based and would be called racist in the UK since at least the 90s. I wouldn't say it was out and out deliberate or hate based but it was a power play (given the levels of the roles involved) and used derogatory language.

How supportive is your line manager? I would discuss with them first if you’re comfortable.

I’m so sorry this has happened to you.

Can you at least say what the derogatory language was ?

The above post indicates a bit of office politics too.

For example, I am Scottish, and if an English manager came in and said," Come on Jock, pull your finger out and get this costing done, some might see that as offensive.

If he said " Come on Steve, I need that budget. You Jocks are supposed to be good at money, bunch of misers. ", that's into Xenophobic, and maybe racist, territory.

I'm asking for guidance on how to report this and how to protect myself in the process given the seniority of the person involved. It's then up to HR and leadership to investigate.

I'm not asking for guidance on whether it was racist.