Pharmacist wins £58,000 compensation in racial harassment case against Boots

An Employment Tribunal upheld 7 claims of harassment related to race brought by the pharmacist against Boots and one of its pharmacy technicians

A tribunal has ordered Boots to pay over £58,000 in compensation and costs to a pharmacist who was racially profiled at work.

S.Famojuro, a black pharmacist of Nigerian national origin, experienced racial harassment from pharmacy team members during a shift on 18 July 2020.

The Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA), the independent trade union for pharmacists, represented the pharmacist throughout the internal grievance processes and at the Employment Tribunal hearing.

In a detailed written judgment, the pharmacy team members and company managers were heavily criticised by the Tribunal, after finding that a pre-registration pharmacy technician and a pharmacy advisor had undermined Famojuro in his professional role as the Responsible Pharmacist (RP) and insulted him.

The pharmacist lodged a grievance with Boots regarding his treatment, but it took the company over four months to initiate the investigation and set a meeting date, and this was only done after the PDA intervened to address the unacceptable delays.

However, the Judge described the grievance investigation conducted by an experienced store manager as “simply not fit for purpose” and lacking a “basic level of competence.”

The grievance manager was found to be inadequately trained for conducting grievances into serious allegations of discrimination, and there were unacceptable delays in dealing with the complaints.

The Tribunal concluded that Boots' actions had seriously damaged the relationship of mutual trust and confidence, leading to Famojuro's resignation, which was determined to be a case of constructive unfair dismissal.

The grievance outcome was issued on 15 January 2021, with all of the pharmacist's complaints being dismissed, except for one regarding delays in the investigation.

Unsatisfied, the pharmacist appealed against the outcome, leading to the appointment of an area manager to hear the appeal.

However, the appeal manager did nothing to probe further the conduct of the pharmacy technician and pharmacy advisor, with the Tribunal noting that his inquiry was "superficial and lacked insight."

After receiving the appeal outcome, the pharmacist resigned with a notice on 3 April 2021. The apology arrived on 12 May 2021, almost 6 weeks after his resignation.

The Tribunal described this as “the classic formulation of a non-apology” noting that it “must have rubbed salt in the Claimant’s wounds”.

Following a 5-day hearing earlier this year, the Tribunal upheld 7 claims of harassment related to race brought by the pharmacist against Boots and the pharmacy technician, as well as his claim of constructive unfair dismissal.

In a remedy hearing, the Tribunal awarded Famojuro £45,263.11 for loss of earnings, injury to feelings, aggravated damages, an uplift for failure to follow the ACAS Code, and interest. Additionally, costs of £13,357.25 were awarded to the PDA, bringing the total compensation and costs to £58,620.36.

Mark Pitt, General Secretary of the PDA Union said: “Rather than properly investigate Mr Famojuro’s complaints and condemn the racist behaviour of their employees at the time of the incident, the company supported them throughout, denying any racism had occurred.

“Consequently, Mr Famojuro was put through 4 years of stress and court proceedings to secure justice for his discriminatory treatment.

“The PDA legal team have been behind him all the way and the high award and aggravated damages reflect the extreme displeasure of the employment tribunal panel at the conduct of company and its witnesses, some of whom were found to have lied and fabricated evidence. “

Wai Chan, Vice President of the PDA BAME Pharmacists Network which leads anti-racist activity for the PDA, stated that they will review this case to inform their future activity.”

The PDA emphasised that unlawful discrimination related to race is unacceptable, and urges members who encounter discrimination at work to seek advice from the PDA Member Support Centre.