Tribunal backs two race complaints against council

The tribunal found in favour of Peterborough City Council in relation to 41 of 43 allegations

Two claims of harassment related to race against a local authority have been upheld by an employment tribunal.

Rochelle Tapping, who is black and of Jamaican and Caribbean origin, is a former director of legal and governance at Peterborough City Council.

The tribunal upheld complaints in relation to whether she was friends with another black female senior employee and over a picture shared on a WhatsApp group. It dismissed 41 other complaints made by Ms Tapping.

After the hearing, council chief executive Matt Gladstone said: "We will reflect carefully on the lessons to be learned."

Ms Tapping was employed by the authority from November 2022 until August 2023, when she was dismissed for failing her probation period, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The tribunal in Cambridge heard she made a positive impression on all those who met her during her recruitment process, with one colleague describing her as "a breath of fresh air".

The decision document noted she "was the only, and seemingly the first, black person appointed to the monitoring officer role" at the city council and possibly the first black permanent appointment to a position on the corporate leadership team.

Ms Tapping claimed her "cards were marked" from the outset of her employment after Mr Gladstone and service director Mandy Pullen were made aware she was in dispute with former employer Birmingham City Council, and was alleging it had racially discriminated against her.

The tribunal upheld a complaint that Mr Gladstone had asked Ms Tapping if she was friends with the council's interim head of legal at the time, Adsuwa Omoregie, who was also a black woman.

Ms Omoregie told it: "I thought it a bit strange as to why he would think we would be friends."

Mr Gladstone said he believed he had done so because it was "not uncommon" for senior leaders to recruit people they had previously worked with or who were otherwise professionally known to them.

The tribunal noted the question was a "slip of the tongue" and that it was never Mr Gladstone's intention to cause offence.

'A degrading environment'

The second complaint the tribunal upheld was about a photo posted on a WhatsApp group, sent by the council's former chief finance officer, Cecilie Booth.

She was having samba lessons on holiday in Brazil, and it featured a black woman in carnival dress with her buttocks, legs and thighs exposed.

Ms Booth messaged the group: "The Brazilian samba is a bit racy…"

The tribunal noted it was "ultimately reasonable" for Ms Tapping, as the only black member of the group, to feel that it created a degrading environment for her and black women in general.

It added Ms Booth did not set out to offend.

Mr Gladstone said: "In respect of the two claims that were upheld, I am pleased the tribunal found that the offence caused was never intended.

"Recognising and valuing diversity is one of our core corporate values and one that I personally take very seriously.

"As an organisation, we will continue to promote a culture where everyone is treated equitably, regardless of race or any other protected characteristic."