Former Exertis salesman seeking record £6.6m in damages after being racially bullied by colleagues

Co-workers labelled Kieran Sidhu an ‘Arab shoebomber’ and he was asked how it felt to be ‘the only ethnic on the team’

A former Exertis salesman is seeking a record £6.6m in damages after suffering a litany of racist bullying by ex-colleagues which forced him to quit.

Kieran Sidhu, who is of Sikh religion, worked at the Hampshire-based distributor until quitting in May 2017 after being labelled an "Arab shoebomber" and a "temperamental Syrian immigrant" who was "f***ing for ISIS," reports Basingstoke Gazette.

The lasting psychological damage means he is "unlikely" to ever work again, according to a physiatrist who assessed him, having suffered with extreme depression and anxiety.

Glynn Smith, Stuart Smith and John Cleary were all found to have bullied the 36-year-old when they worked together at Exertis, with Sidhu having already won claims of race discrimination, racial harassment and constructive dismissal against the company, according to the Daily Mail.

And the Metro reports that at least two of the men, Stuart Smith and John Cleary, are still working at the company.

The £6,638,938 being pursued for lost earnings, injury to feelings and aggravated damages would far exceed the current record tribunal payout of £4.7m from the Royal Bank of Scotland last year.

A tribunal heard that Sihdu's team would simulate sex acts with bananas, make lewd remarks about sausages and try to make him put on women's lingerie in the office.

It found that "crude sexual innuendo and express sexual reference" were considered "entertaining banter" at the male-orientated workplace.

It was claimed that his colleagues would routinely sing variants of racist remarks to Sidhu to the tune of Que Sera Sera.

Sidhu told the tribunal how his team repeatedly taped McDonald's adverts and a spoof male escort business card to his monitor, saying it was what he would be doing once he was sacked.

Glynn Smith located his Basingstoke home on Google Maps and likened his neighbourhood to war-torn Aleppo in Syria.

And he also branded Sidhu's car the "sh*ttest on the team", typed its registration into webuyanycar.com and told him they were only offering £100.

Co-workers encouraged him to spend £180 on a tuxedo for a 'black tie' work event that they knew was actually 'smart casual'.

His team would put his laptop in the bin; hide his mouse and chair around the office; and stand up to clap if he arrived late to work.

He was asked how it felt to be the "only ethnic on the team" and was told "you will be the last ethnic if you are anything to go by".

The tribunal found that manager Matthew Rumsey showed "little interest" in Sidhu's complaints of bullying and cared more about the team's sales targets.

Instead, he took clients off him and tried to force him out of the business "because he did not fit with the team", the tribunal said.

In a statement, Exertis said: "The employment tribunal decision relates to Exertis and a breach of the Equality Act 2010 within a specific area of the business. We fully respect the tribunal's decision.

"When the complaint was made four years ago, Exertis immediately launched a thorough internal investigation and took appropriate disciplinary action.

"This was a unique case across a business of more than 1,800 employees. However, Exertis takes any such concerns extremely seriously. This is why we took immediate remedial action, such as diversity and inclusion training, on completion of that investigation in 2017.

"On this occasion it was clear that certain behaviours within a part of our business fell short of the standards we expect. However, our response makes sure that this should never happen again.

"Exertis prides itself on being an inclusive employer and continues to invest heavily in increasing awareness in relation to diversity."