ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND / RankWire.AI / – A former PizzaExpress waiter received £5,469.04 after a tribunal upheld his racial harassment claim. Raymond Joseph said a colleague repeatedly called him an American and a “Yank” during a workplace dispute. The colleague also told him to leave and return to his country. Employment Judge Melanie Sangster found that the remarks related to Joseph’s nationality. The ruling considered the repeated language, the restaurant setting and the impact on Joseph.
Joseph began working at the PizzaExpress restaurant in Aberdeen’s Union Square in September 2024. He usually worked between 20 and 22 hours each week. The dispute happened on April 8, 2025, during a demanding shift. Joseph and waiter Michael Tortolano were serving customers without another waiter present. An argument developed as they dealt with the busy restaurant. Tortolano said nobody liked Joseph and referred several times to his American background.
Joseph responded with insults and called Tortolano a “bald loser” during the exchange. Tortolano later repeated the nationality-based comments during the same shift. Other people, including restaurant customers, could hear parts of the argument. Joseph told the tribunal that the remarks left him hurt and humiliated. He gave a written statement to a manager that day and continued working. The tribunal found that the comments met the legal definition of harassment related to race.
Award covers injury to feelings
The tribunal awarded Joseph £5,000 for injury to feelings under the established Vento compensation framework. It placed the payment in the middle of the lower compensation band. The tribunal added £469.04 in interest, bringing the total award to £5,469.04. It calculated the interest at an annual rate of 8% for 428 days. The tribunal found no separate financial loss from the incident. Joseph did not take medical leave or seek treatment after the argument.
PizzaExpress started its investigation on May 20, about six weeks after the confrontation. The tribunal described that delay as unreasonable. However, it found no unlawful connection between the delay and Joseph’s protected workplace disclosures. Tortolano admitted the allegation during a later disciplinary hearing. Managers found gross misconduct and issued him a final written warning. They considered his admission, remorse and previous disciplinary record. The company also investigated separate complaints concerning Joseph’s behaviour and his handling of business information.
Tribunal rejects additional complaints
PizzaExpress dismissed Joseph without notice on June 20, 2025, after a manager upheld misconduct allegations against him. Those findings covered his conduct during the argument and a separate inappropriate comment. They also involved unauthorised access to confidential company information. The manager found that Joseph sent business material to his personal email account. Joseph denied the allegations and did not appeal his dismissal. The tribunal concluded that the misconduct findings caused his dismissal, rather than his complaints or disclosures.
Joseph also pursued claims involving victimisation, whistleblowing detriment and automatically unfair dismissal. The tribunal dismissed those parts of his case. It accepted that several disclosures qualified for legal protection under employment law. However, it found no causal link between those disclosures and the actions taken against him. The Aberdeen hearing lasted seven days across April and May 2026. The tribunal sent its judgment to the parties on June 10. Joseph succeeded only on the racial harassment claim.