A tribunal has decided against punishing a showroom manager for using a racial slur after ruling that a complaint was not made on time.
Scott Bullock referred to an Asian customer as a ‘c****y Chinaman’ during a 2016 staff meeting at Colliers’ Land Rover dealership near Birmingham.
The allegation was one of several complaints of racism made by former employee John James, who recently sued the company as a result.
A tribunal ruled that the comment was made in the presence of James, who is half Indian but still did not find in his favour.
The panel concluded that his case, which included several other serious allegations, included ‘a barrage of confusing historical claims’.
SThe Metro reports that Bullock was recorded making the slur by James on an iPad, which led to an internal investigation.
However, no complaint was made until after the pair’s relationship had broken down, causing James to quit in February 2018.
Bullock is said to have told staff: ‘We get all walks of life through this showroom. We’re not stupid to know that, probably 75/80 per cent of our day to day customers are foreign.
‘From when I first started with Colliers, when Land Rover wasn’t popular, it was on the odd occasion that you probably see an Asian gentleman.
‘Chinese people, yes on the odd occasion, one every six months, because they don’t generally buy our product. The Asian community certainly do.
‘I’ve always encouraged all of my sales team, because this is what I was told years ago, those are the best people you want to get in with. Because if you can sell to an Asian and you’re good, you’ll get his whole family.
‘You’re not talking one car, you’re talking 10/20 and that’s the motto I’ve always tried to encourage the whole of my sales team.’
The tribunal found that use of the slur would have constituted a ‘legitimate grievance’ had James reported it in a more timely manner.
A report from the hearing said: ‘Mr James refers to feeling perturbed in his dealings with Mr Bullock who, he says, was often dismissive, awkward and hostile towards him.
‘He refers to the sales meetings each morning and Mr James says he often found them uncomfortable with the tense and pervasive atmosphere when discussing Asian customers.
‘He said specifically that Mr Bullock referred to a Chinese customer as a ‘c****y Chinaman.’