Ms F Z Ouchrif v Aspire Housing and Personal Development — 2025

The tribunal found that the respondent harassed the claimant by subjecting her to mocking comments about her accent and telling her that if she wished to live in Scotland she should 'learn how to speak Scottish', and that the same conduct amounted to direct race discrimination. The harassment was not a single incident but occurred over approximately nine or ten shifts across a two-month period and ceased only because of the claimant's annual leave and the respondent placing the other employee on paid leave.

The tribunal also upheld a victimisation claim, finding that the respondent failed to provide an outcome to the claimant's grievance and failed to support or manage her sickness absence. The judge found that this lack of resolution and contact left the grievance and the basis for the claimant's absence as live, ongoing issues and contributed to the continuing nature of her mental health difficulties.

Applying the Vento bands as at April 2024, the tribunal assessed injury to feelings at £15,000, placed at the lower end of the middle band, declining to increase the award for the overlapping harassment and direct discrimination findings to avoid double recovery. Interest of £1,433.42 was awarded under the Employment Tribunal (Interest on Awards in Discrimination Claims) Regulations 1996, calculated at 8% over 436 days from 2 October 2024 to the date of the reserved judgment, producing a total award of £16,433.42.