The Free Speech Union racked up another significant legal victory at the employment tribunal (ET) last month, securing what promises to be a significant pay-out for a dyslexic Lloyds bank manager sacked in a free speech row.
Carl Borg-Neal, 57, was unfairly dismissed and subject to disability discrimination when Lloyds Bank sacked him for using a racial slur during a workplace-based diversity training session. He is now likely to recover damages for past loss of earnings, future loss of earnings, a pensions award, compensation for discrimination and compensation for personal injury, all amounting to a significant sum.
In July 2021, Mr. Borg-Neal was one of around 100 senior Lloyds managers who logged on to an online training session entitled ‘Race Education for Line Managers’. Provided by an external organisation, the training formed part of the bank’s ‘Race Action Plan’, launched in the wake of George Floyd’s death the previous year.
Carl had worked for Lloyds Bank for 27 years without issue, was popular among colleagues, and had risen to a highly technical managerial role at head office. Far from being indifferent to racial equality, he had recently joined a new scheme mentoring young colleagues from ethnic minorities and was working with three mentees, one of African descent, one of Asian descent and one of European (non-U.K.) descent.
At the start of the session, the trainer read out a script that established the parameters for what was to follow. “When we talk about race, people often worry about saying the wrong thing,” she said. “Please understand that today is your opportunity to practice, learn and be clumsy… The goal is to start talking, so please speak freely, and forgive yourself and others when being clumsy today.”
At a relevant point during a subsequent discussion on “intent vs effect”, Mr. Borg-Neal decided to take the trainer’s statement at face-value and “speak freely”. Thinking partly about rap music, he asked how as a line manager he should handle a situation where he heard someone from an ethnic minority use a word that might be considered offensive if used by a white person. Met with a puzzled look from the trainer, he added, “The most common example being use of the word n***** in the black community.”
Carl didn’t receive a response to his ‘clumsy’ question. In fact, he was angrily berated by the trainer. He tried to apologise for any offence, but was told if he spoke again he would be thrown off the course.
Other managers on the course complained that Carl’s question never received an answer – indeed, anonymous feedback collated after the session suggests the trainer’s behaviour was not particularly well-received. “I was shocked by the manner and tone used by one presenter to a colleague,” said a respondent. “After saying at the beginning this would be a safe environment and [acknowledging] we may make mistakes, she launched into a vitriolic attack… I believe [Mr. Borg-Neal] was trying to ask a valid question to aid understanding.”
After the course, the trainer claimed she was so offended by use of the n-word that she was too sick to work and took five days off. The provider then complained to Lloyds Bank.
It was the fact that the trainer needed to take time off that triggered an investigation, with the bank subsequently accusing Carl of racism and launching a disciplinary process that led to his dismissal for gross misconduct.
After 27 years, his career lay in tatters.
Following an unsuccessful attempt to appeal Lloyds’ decision, Carl joined the Free Speech Union. Having reviewed the case, we instructed Doyle Clayton – an expert firm of employment solicitors – who brought a claim against Lloyds Bank in the Tribunal.
Something that emerged particularly strongly from the hearing was the extent to which Lloyds focused on Mr. Carl Borg-Neal’s use of the n-word in isolation, irrespective of the context in which he’d used it.
For instance, the initial HR caseworker talked to colleagues from the bank’s Inclusion and Diversity team “to understand the impact of the word used on session attendees”. The disciplinary Hearing Manager then spoke to witnesses “to understand the impact of use of the term on the facilitator”. During the appeal process, the new Hearing Manager also focused on the impact that use of the n-word had had on the individual carrying out the training.
It was on the basis of this semantic fixation that the bank could concede that Mr. Borg-Neal had not intended to cause any hurt, that he asked the question with no malice, and that the question itself was valid, but then still dismiss him for gross misconduct. The bank’s argument was that Mr, Borg-Neal should have known better than “to use the full word in a professional environment”.
However, thanks to top-drawer representation from Doyle Clayton, the panel was steered towards an appreciation of the wider context in which the n-word had been uttered.
Explaining its unanimous decision to rule the dismissal unfair, the panel noted variously that: the incident had taken place during a race education session, and specifically during a discussion of “intent versus impact”; it was a well-intentioned relevant question regarding how to handle a situation of racially offensive language in the workplace; there was no suggestion that he was taking an opportunity to say an abusive term under cover of a question; and his dyslexia affected his ability to formulate his question carefully.
Lloyds argued that Mr. Borg-Neal had demonstrated a lack of concern for the impact of his actions on others. According to the Hearing Manager, it was “because of the absence of any deeper acceptance as to why [Mr. Borg-Neal’s] use of the word was so inappropriate [that it was] difficult to make the case that action short of dismissal such as further training or removing [him] from a position of influence as a role model would be sufficient”.
The panel was distinctly unimpressed with this line of reasoning. “This is an unusual distinction given that the claimant had repeatedly apologised,” they wrote. “He told [the Hearing Manager] that he understood in hindsight that the trainer could be upset. He said a friend had told him use of the word was inappropriate and ‘I get that now’. He said he understood his conduct had fallen below expectation. One wonders what was expected of him.”
At the forthcoming remedy hearing, Mr. Borg-Neal is expected to get a high six-figure compensation award.
Stop Press: If you’re thinking of joining the Free Speech Union, now is a good time to join because its membership fees are going up on September 15th. Anyone joining before that date will not be charged the higher rate for at least one year, meaning they can also renew their membership at the current low rate. To join for as little as £2.49 a month, click here.
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Nigel Farage’s campaign for financial freedom may be the most important campaign of our generation.
The right to cash
The right to a bank account
No control over transactions
There is no freedom without financial freedom.
https://youtu.be/P7Sd7zerj6Y?si=07DMZhFMLmadQVl6
Latest leaflet to share
The intention to take our property has always been planned. It is part of the theft of the commons as outlined by Iain Davis.
“You will own nothing and be happy.”
Really awesome 50min video here which looks at the movie ‘1984’, as well as China and other totalitarian regimes from history, and relates this to what is happening to us today and the effects on society. Highly recommended.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZOWRbixDPw&ab_channel=IntelligenceSquared
Excellent.
(Posts with links end up with fewer upticks than they should – you have to go out of your way to go back and uptick.)
I’d like to see a new remake of the 1984 movie. Past versions depict a dreary, joyless existence, a sort of brutish, Stalinist world. But that makes it seem too detached from our current reality. I wish they would remake it in our current setting full of comforts, convenience and cool gadgets, to make it clear that the oppressive dystopia of1984 can exist anywhere, not just in a gray, depressing, 1930’s Soviet-like world.
The symptoms for the Pirola strain (first article) are coughing, sneezing, runny eyes, fatigue, etc. So, just a summer cold then? If I wasn’t so sick of all this artificial hyping of everything into panic level (like our current hot and lovely weather) I would find it amusing, but my sense of humour about these things has long deserted me.
…yes..I find it impossible to find this funny anymore, as they have no intention of stopping….
My brother, who works in the care industry, rang me yesterday to tell me he has had his letter urging him to get a Covid and flu vax….he won’t as he’s never had either…but at the end of the letter was an attachment from the NHS saying they want to gain ‘knowledge of attitudes towards vaccination”…and apparently they have a ‘capacity tracker’ to evaluate the information monthly….
…and so it begins…….
“Matt Ridley: The stupidity on display here is off the graph”
If you look at [it’s] face and speech pattern while [it’s] speaking, you’ll see that the pink haired idiot is in a state of total cognitive dissonance about the complete cr*p [it’s] just come out with. Everything about that statement is wrong, [it] knows it’s wrong but says it anyway because someone further up the food chain told [it] to.
Well done that reporter. Never interrupt an idiot making even more of a fool of themselves.
“The U.K. Government wants to control your kitchen fridge or send you to jail”
Have the govt really thought this through? 1) If they criminalise a big chunk of their target audience – as, let’s face it, the majority of home owners are older folk and tend to be small c conservative if not big C types – its not exactly going to endear them to their voting base, is it? 2) It costs an average of £46,696 per annum to keep a prisoner warm, comfy and well-fed – and the new raft of geriatric crims with additional needs will cost more. That’s about 4 times what it currently costs me to live in my home. How’s that saving the national leccy bill then? 3) Thus my suspicion is that this is just a cack-handed way of meeting C40/WEF-mandated land grab targets.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1202172/cost-per-prisoner-england-and-wales/
See Iain Davis – The Theft of the Commons.
Never forget:
Our salvation will not arrive via the ballot box.
It doesn’t matter which one of the LibLabCon people vote for the policy outcomes will be the same.
I hope I’m not repeating something, but in relation to the Eugyppius article yesterday, I saw this….it’s in German, but I could use my translate button…
https://exxpress.at/lauterbach-raeumt-ein-geimpfte-starben-genauso-oft-wie-ungeimpfte/
Vaccination with the BioNTech vaccine “Comirnaty” had no significant influence on the mortality rate. This was the result of a study with 43,448 subjects. The German Ministry of Health is now forced to admit this in a response to the inquiry.
The German Ministry of Health under Karl Lauterbach (SPD) has admitted in a response to a parliamentary question by AfD member Roger Beckamp: There is no “significant difference in all-cause mortality” between those vaccinated and unvaccinated against corona. Vaccination with the BioNTech vaccine “Comirnaty” therefore has no significant influence on the mortality rate.
The study served as an essential approval study for Comirnaty. 43,448 subjects participated in it, one half (21,720 subjects) received the vaccination, the other half (21,728) was treated with placebo.
Roger Beckamp from the AfD commented to the JF: The federal government must now admit “black on white” what has actually been known for a long time. He added that all subsequent studies to which the Federal Government refers do not meet the same scientific standards and therefore do not have the same significance.
Seems like big news to me..but??
It would appear that Germany isn’t the only country where regulators failed to regulate and have no idea…….and I suspect every country in Europe, including our own, are in a very similar boat!?
https://news.rebekahbarnett.com.au/p/australias-drug-regulator-admits
Australia’s drug regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), has no idea how many of the adverse events reported to its database are actually caused by the Covid vaccines.
Despite refusing to answer straightforward questions about how many reports it has assessed for causality, the TGA has confirmed that they do not have the information required to properly assess all adverse events (AEs) reported to its safety surveillance database, the DAEN (Database of Adverse Event Notifications).
Yet, there is a widespread perception that the TGA assesses all reports, particularly of serious AEs, for causality.
Worth a read….
This Australian vote – it looks to me a lot like they are trying to set up an equivalent to Europe’s ECHR by the back door. It will be used to block anything even vaguely against the interests of the global elites from being enacted. Essentially giving the globalists a veto over the democratically elected Government, because let’s be honest here – the ‘citizens panel’ or whatever they are calling it, will be stuffed full of their handpicked acolytes.
Absolutely stunning substack from Aussie 17….
Pharmafiles News September 7, 2023 Pfizer Whistleblower Exposes Massive Financial Deals with Government Officials…
Former Pfizer’s Director of Global Compliance Analytics, Frank Han is throwing some serious shade at Pfizer, alleging that they have been up to no good. It’s a spicy story with allegations of massive financial transfers involving government officials and Pfizer’s corporate antics.
Specifically, Pfizer spent a staggering $168 million in China, $12 million in the US, $11 million in Canada, $7.5 million in Russia, and $7.1 million in the UK during this period……I mean, they’re dropping over $200 million just for five countries! And get this, it’s only for the period from Q2 2019 through Q3 2021. Can you imagine what would happen if we looked at a whole decade? I wouldn’t be shocked if it skyrocketed into the billions!
Worth a read…..
Oops!
https://www.aussie17.com/p/pharmafiles-news-september-7-2023
Re:
https://twitter.com/mattwridley/status/1699349497074090277?s=48
and the quality of air / emissions.
I received the latest disinformation article from gov.uk this morning.
Another piece of scaremongering junk!
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/air-pollution-link-with-covid-19-infection-and-adverse-outcomes
Summary: ‘…We conclude that, in the context of evidence for the effect of air pollution on lung infections more generally, long-term air pollution may be a contributory factor in worsening the symptoms of COVID-19.’
No doubt this ‘timely’ publication will be used to push the ULEZ propaganda and use of masks again, sigh.
Summary: ‘…We conclude that, in the context of evidence for the effect of air pollution on lung infections more generally, long-term air pollution may be a contributory factor in worsening the symptoms of COVID-19.’
This is not just a statement of absolutely nothing but a badly written statement about nothing.
Let’s try : repeated injections with the C1984 jabs may be a contributory factor in worsening the symptoms of COVID-19.’
Or: repeated erosion of basic human rights may be a contributory factor in worsening the symptoms of Covid 19.
Sorted.
“Why BA.2.86 Covid strain is just another ‘scariant’” – The new Covid variant Pirola may be less infectious and deadly than previously feared, says the Mail.
Oh what a surprise! It’s not like that’s ever happened before, is it? How many times does this have to happen before they give up? But no, the next one will STILL be the most infectious and deadly one yet.
This WEF spokeswoman said she wasn´t a scientist.
But she spouts such crazy non-sequiturs that one must wonder if any sort of science at all is taught in schools.
Her display suggests that whatever she was taught, it was completely wasted.