A Polish woman has been awarded £5,000 after she was banned from speaking her native language with colleagues in the workplace.
An employment tribunal ruled that Magdalena Konieczna was subjected to racial harassment in her workplace in Aberdeen in what could be a landmark case. The worker had spoken to other members of staff in Polish as some of them were unable to speak or fully understand instructions in English.
However, her HR manager banned her from speaking unless it was in English. Nicol Hosie argued that speaking in Polish in the workplace was “more likely to create a greater health and safety risk than reduce it”.
The ban on speaking Polish applied to break times and at any time when in the workplace.