You can’t have missed the news about the recent incident on a Ryanair flight from Barcelona to London.
David Mesher racially abused Delsie Gayle when she failed to move quickly enough for him to get to his window seat. She’s 77 years old, and has arthritis.
Rather than removing him from the flight, cabin crew moved her to another seat (allegedly at her request).
The incident was filmed by another passenger. The video has gone viral, with thousands of people demanding that the airline pay compensation to Delsie.
David has since been questioned by police and interviewed on the TV show Good Morning Britain. He apologised, blamed his outburst on a “fit of temper” and said he’s not a racist.
Delsie and her daughter Carol have refused to accept the apology, and criticised Ryanair for failing to handle the situation adequately.
It will be interesting to see what happens next.
Obviously, not all race discrimination is this overt.
As you may know, it is unlawful for you to be discriminated against because of your race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin. This means:
• You must not be treated less favourably than someone of another race
• You must not be disadvantaged by policies, practices or procedures that apply to everyone
• You must not be harassed or have your dignity violated through unwanted conduct (that’s what happened to Delsie – with his derogatory remarks, David created an environment that was intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating and offensive)
• You must not be victimised. That is, you must not be treated unfairly because you supported someone else who was being discriminated against
If you experience discrimination at work, please give us a call.
To find out more, read our page about Race Discrimination.
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