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White woman 'harassed by anti-black racism'

By Matthew Moore and PA

Last Updated: 2:03am GMT 03/03/2007

A white woman who claims she was racially harassed by "jokes" insulting black people has won the right to take her case to an employment tribunal. Pat Gravell, 45, says that her former employer Bexley Council did nothing to stamp out the racist emails and text messages. Although she is white and British, she says that she was harassed by the remarks because she found them distressing and offensive. The former homeless prevention officer from Bexleyheath, Kent, says she hopes to force employers to tackle casual racism in the workplace. Last September a tribunal struck out her claim, saying it had no reasonable prospect of success, but today she won the right for a full hearing. The fact that she is white was not a "killer blow", and her claim should be judged on its merits, according to Judge Peter Clark at the Employment Appeal Tribunal in London. He added that her unusual case was "perhaps a bit of a trailblazer". Ms Gravell, who was made redundant in January after five years in the job, says that her colleagues sent her texts referring to black people as monkeys, and making offensive references to the mixed-race marriage of comedians Dawn French and Lenny Henry. She also received jokes mocking those who died in the New Orleans flood and the cockle-picking disaster in Morecambe Bay, she claims. Bexley Council denies creating an environment in which racism could flourish, and intends to launch a Court of Appeal challenge to today's ruling.

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