A senior manager at healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson, Tolulope Fayokun, has won a discrimination case after her white boss, Alessandra Toro, allegedly ‘racially profiled’ her.
Fayokun claimed that Toro presented her with a document outlining the ‘Nigerian traits’ she exhibited, making stereotypical references such as ‘African time’ to imply she was lazy.
The tribunal concluded that Fayokun had been unfairly ‘racially profiled’ and expressed concerns about the discriminatory nature of the profiling exercise.
Compensation for Fayokun will be determined in a later hearing.
Additional claims of unfair dismissal, victimization, harassment, and religious and racial discrimination were dismissed.
Employment Judge Andrew Gumbiti-Zimuto found that Mrs Toro had discriminated against her through the use of a ‘profiling exercise’.
He said: ”It aligned Mrs Fayokun with a Nigerian workstyle in a manner which contained some lazy stereotypes such as references to “African time”, and which Mrs Fayokun found to be insensitive and upsetting.
”The manner in which this profiling exercise was communicated to Mrs Fayokun involved Alessandra Toro stating to Mrs Fayokun that the differences between their working styles ‘this is why I have been poking you’.
”In communicating the findings of this document, it was stated to Mrs Fayokun that she possessed ‘Nigerian traits’.
”We are satisfied that Mrs Fayokun could reasonably consider that she was disadvantaged in the workplace by reason of being told that this exercise had been carried out and was being actively used to manage her.
”The Tribunal is also satisfied that Alessandra Toro told Mrs Fayokun that she was different to Nigerians, i.e. fixed versus fluid etc.”
