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.

The fact that this man has behaved badly before - presumably without censure - and there is a culture problem makes this an even more risky situation for you.

I appreciate you and many other posters don’t think what he did beyond being racist is relevant but in every single one of the 100s of workplace investigations I’ve overseen I can assure you that unfortunately the level of seriousness of behaviour is always relevant. This is particularly the case in organisations with culture problems.

Unless his behaviour was so egregious that the only option to the organisation is to apply a robust and visible sanction you are at risk. If losing your job is not an issue for you, then you have more latitude but on a thread talking about reporting someone for misconduct it would be remiss not to point out that retaliation in the workplace is real.

it is not your experience of the level of seriousness that will be taken into account, it will be the subjective analysis of those conducting the investigation that is relevant. It’s not right but it’s true. Again more so in a company with a culture problem.

if your position is that you just want to do the right thing regardless of personal outcome, then that is truly admirable and I wish you good fortune.

Usually MN is excellent for employment rights support - this thread has taken a slightly weird turn - so If retaining employment in even in the short-mid term is important then I would encourage you to talk with friends and to think objectively about how your complaint might be perceived.

You are totally missing the point as to the relevance of the “seriousness” of behaviour in work place complaints/investigations. And the fact that “seriousness” is determined not by the complainant but by the company.

without knowing what happened it is difficult to provide meaningful advice. Dependent on how seriously the organisation treat the complaint, which in the main will be determined by what actually happened, the OP is likely to have different options available to her in terms of mitigating her risks.

just wanted to add some counterbalancing support, and say I’m sorry you’re getting so many “ but was it REALLY” racist” interrogations. Think aside from that the advice is good- and understand your wariness. Companies behaviours versus states DEI intent often vary. My experiences in HR versus hotlines are HR maybe more likely that it’s brushed under the carpet but also you get a bit more control of the process, including deciding if things go further and how confidential you want to keep your input, Hotlines will not be brushed under carpet but once the process gets going it’s a juggernaut that you won’t be able to influence and also you will never find out the results of any investigation or any action taken

Does your home insurance have legal cover on it? If so check if it includes employment disputes in case you need it in the future.

If he's done this multiple times where you have noticed it heard it it then I would not hold much hope that he will face repercussions.

Definitely have an exit plan in place.

Fair enough OP and I wish you the best of luck.

Hopefully HR share the same opinion as yourself on the matter.

He hasn't done this multiple times. He behaves quite aggressively (in tone) with people. But this is, as far as I know, the first instance of racism.

Well now there are two options you can go down. Either he's hated and everyone will brigade with the complaint OR he's got a license to be a dick...

I also feel like complaints and work place issues can have the tendency to follow you to other workplaces especially if you are in a specific field and everyone knows someone in your new building.

Also you don't know how the victim feels, they might be unwilling to rock the boat and they will experience the most fallout as a result. I would maybe speak to them first? See what their thoughts are on how to handle it.

Yet this person has been rewarded with a senior post. Do not be surprised. Seems as if this is liked. This suggests you will not be taken seriously

Yup. Totally agree. Hence me asking what was said, and why the seriousness might matter.

As I have already been accused here of making this about myself, when I don't think I have, I would like to share my experience of racism in the workplace.

I am in a mixed race marriage, and the HR manager of the fairly large company I worked for told a colleague that he did not agree with mixed marriage, that it should not be allowed, and that any children would have diluted blood.

That was not in the UK.

I talked about it over a beer with a visiting UK director, I did not complain, we casually discussed it. The colleague who the HR manager had said it to was also there, also dinking beer. There was much head shaking, general discussion of racism, and more beer, But I did not make a complaint. The country actually has no laws re racism against foreigners. There was company policy of course.

That HR manager left about 6 months later. I honestly have no idea why.

More than one way to skin a cat, as some folk say.

What the HR manager had said did not really bother me TBH. It bothered the director tho, I think.

So yes, I think seriousness does matter. And that it has a bearing on what advice is given to take it forward. Of course it does.

Ohh, I am white brit. I hate to think what the reaction would be if I had mentioned that. " I am white British and also experienced racism in the workplace, let me say how I think you should complain........." .

I'm concerned for your wife and children. You need to do so much better.

If anything isn't it racist to think the word 'black' can only ever be seen as an insult/has negative connotations?!

I mean what does she call them? She sounds rather odd.

@Digdongdoo

Huh ?

It's scary that someone with your attitudes has poc in their immediate family. Seriously, scary.

Huh ?

Again.

Can you summarize in a few lines what you think my attitudes are ?

No, I'm not missing the point.

The OP has already made a judgement that the incident was "serious enough" to warrant reporting. Are you suggesting that there are incidents of racism which wouldn't be considered "serious enough" to warrant attention?

As you say, it is for the employer to determine how seriously the incident should be taken, and that assessment is not for random people on the Internet. I would be absolutely gutted if my staff were talked out of reporting a racist incident by people on an online forum who felt that it wasn't "serious enough" to warrant my attention - that is not their judgement to make. I take each and every report seriously and I want people to come forward with their concerns.

If the OP were to post the details here on MN, which thankfully she isn't going to do, I guarantee that there would be posters seeking to minimise the issue or justify why it wasn't really racist etc.

The decision to report has already been made. The OP sought advice on how to protect herself through the reporting process. The details of what actually happened aren't relevant.

You are missing the point and I also don’t believe you are trying to engage in good faith.

The determination of whether due attention is given to a complaint will be made by the company and it is an absolute fact that some - possibly many - companies frequently don’t consider incidents of racism “serious enough”. Given this particular company has a culture problem and continues to employs a person with a history of poor behaviour I wouldn’t be holding out for them to take the same approach you say you do.

I have made it explicitly clear in my posts that it is not right or fair, but it is a reality. You’re surely not arguing it is not?

My understanding is the OP wants to protect herself from potential repercussions. There may be statutory protections open to her depending on the nature of the event. But it is impossible to give meaningful advice without more detail.

Additionally there are practical strategic steps that could be undertaken to mitigate the risk to her but those would be dependent on how the incident is likely to be viewed.

But again, impossible to provide meaningful advice without some context and since you appear determined to characterise such requests as inappropriate I’m not sure there is anything I could say to persuade you to even consider the importance of context.

Additionally, as I posted earlier, if the OP is set on reporting I wish her the best, but it’s not unreasonable for people with experience in this area to point out that reporting and dealing with the fall out of such complaints can be extremely stressful with long term consequences. That’s not trying to talk her out of reporting - that’s helping her understand the risks.

Again - because I suspect you will choose to mischaracterise my comments - I’ll be explicitly clear: it’s not right and it’s not fair that people are suppressed from speaking out due to fear of consequences, but failing to acknowledge the reality of those consequences for the individual does the individual a huge disservice.

Anyway as you say the OP has made up her mind and I’m sure now will seek advice on precautions (as she absolutely should) elsewhere rather than this thread that has been totally derailed by posters picking at those trying to help.

I've now said a few times on the thread that other people who were there (who are white) agree it was racist. Maybe we can now get past the hypotheticals of how grave it was.

I think you're being disingenuous. The fact is, we already know the basic details of the incident. The OP witnessed a manager making a derogatory racist comment towards a colleague. I don't see how the specific details of exactly what was said would make a difference to the OP's statutory protections in this situation, but please feel free to elaborate.

As to the practical strategic steps that the OP could undertake to protect herself, why not just outline these, with a couple of different scenarios if you feel that the approach needs to be very different depending on the specific nature of the derogatory comments made. For my part, I don't think the specific detail of the derogatory comments should make any difference.

As to "helping her to understand the risks" of reporting, I don't think the OP is an idiot, and I'm sure that she is more than capable of assessing these risks for herself. Indeed, the very fact that she has started the thread is evidence of the fact that she is well aware of the potential fallout. She has indicated that she wants to report the incident despite these risks. It's pretty patronising to suggest that she hasn't thought this through.

And I’m not arguing that it wasn’t racist 🤷‍♀️

my advice is clearly not helpful to you so I’m stepping out - Good luck with your complaint.

@Wonderbug81 please take no notice of the posters who are trying to minimise this and derail your thread. I am also a POC and I regularly come up against this. Some people just have no idea what a lifetime of micro aggression and direct/indirect racism feels like. What seems trivial to some is completel soul destroying to those on the receiving end. You should be proud that you are standing up for what is right, and I think you are amazing for taking the time to get advice on how to go about reporting. Good luck, I'll be cheering you on! 💐💐💐💐💐

When my partner (her Dad) asked her what does she call them she called him racist for saying them!

Thank you for your lovely message. That's very kind. It can be so exhausting but it's these messages that keep me going. I'm sorry you've experienced similar situations yourself. Things seem particular bad at the moment.

Gawd gimme strength. Sorry I shouldn't mock her but that really is daft! 🤣

I think they left long ago and are safer and happier now.