A LABOURER at a recycling facility - who claimed he was subjected to intimidation by Polish colleagues - has won a race harassment claim.

An employment judge also found that a safety worker at Wheeldon Brothers in Oldham had also made unwanted racial comment towards Mr A Thompson.

He claimed he was asked by Stephen Savery, who was responsible for handing out safety gear whether it was “true what they said about black men having big feet and a big dick?”.

Mr Thompson told an employment tribunal hearing he was reluctant to raise a complaint against Mr Savery, who was related to one of the bosses there by marriage.

But the tribunal heard that this was one of a number of incidents encountered by Mr Thompson, before he was dismissed for gross misconduct following a confrontation with a Polish colleague.

Employment judge Rhodri McDonald, sitting with two lay members, ruled in his favour over a series of incidents at the Wheeldon’s yard in Royton.

Mr Thompson said that while working on the picking line in July 2018, Polish colleague Dariusz Saqziak told him “no-one likes you” and he was also aggressive towards two other non-white workers, Salim Sadjo and and Pius Otokhina.

Mr Saqziak would tell them “agency go home” but not direct the same treatment towards white agency staff, the hearing was told.

Another Polish worker, Marcin Orzechowski, who had previously given a ‘middle-finger gesture’ towards Mr Thompson in a stand-off in the canteen there, also made the comment “we don’t want black people in our country” in another row.

The tribunal heard that matters came to a head when Mr Thompson and Mr Orzechowski clashed on stairs at the plant.

Judge McDonald said that while CCTV footage did show a confrontation between the pair, it was difficult to determine who was responsible for claims and counterclaims over how the fight developed.

The tribunal heard that both Mr Thompson and Mr Orzechowski were later dismissed for their roles in the violence.

Mr Thompson also claimed his Polish co-workers threw pieces of wood at a radio he was trying to listen to in another incident.

The tribunal heard there were two other incidents, which were ruled ‘out of time’ for Mr Thompson’s claims but were accepted as having happened by the judge.

One was an argument in the wake of the Manchester Arena bombing, in the canteen, where Mr Saqziak allegedl said: “that’s why we don’t want no Blacks, no Pakistanis, no Muslims, no immigrants in our country!”.

Another flashpoint came when another Polish worker was demonstrating ‘monkey’ Snapchat filters on his phone and called Mr Thompson over to show him, the tribunal heard.

Ruling in Mr Thompson;s favour, Judge McDonald said: "We found that the incidents of harassment involving Marcin and Dariusz, from February 2018 onwards up to and including the incident on 7 August 2018 formed an ongoing hostile campaign against the claimant."

The case has been adjourned for a remedy hearing on the successful race discrimination claims.