Advice Story 1: Race Discrimination

Sarida’s Story

Sarida was made redundant from her employer in the hospitality industry from the position of Supervisor. In the previous weeks she had experienced bullying and insults by her new manager. At one time her manager said in front of her customers “If you were my dog, I’d have you put down”. After receiving her redundancy notice she saw that her position was being re-advertised by her employer. She asked a friend who used to work with her what to do.  Her friend encouraged her to approach the Citizens Advice Bureau, who referred her the Northamptonshire Rights and Equality Council.

“Without the support of NREC I’m not sure that I would win this case. I wanted my employers to understand that what they had done was wrong. When I was made redundant I experienced considerable mental upset. I felt that I was dealt with unfairly over my time with my employer and this really hit my confidence. I still haven’t regained the confidence that I had three years ago. I lost confidence in  myself and those around me in the workplace when my manager treated me in such a shameful way. Even though I have found other work, the pay is lower and I am having to work my way up again to a supervisor position.

I really appreciated the face to face advice that I got from my advisor at NREC. He took time to get to know me and the details of my complaint. Whenever I contacted him he would know exactly what was going on.  Meeting my advisor face to face meant that there was a good opportunity for the advisor to really probe and tease out the details of the case. The face to face advice gave me a confidence that I do not think I would have otherwise. Going through the case I developed a trust in my advisor and a bond that meant that I was confident that all the processes that we went through, (developing a statement, submitting a tribunal application) were done in the correct way. If I had to pursue the case using phone advice I’m not sure that I would get as good a resolution for me. Normally on the phone you forget things and it is often hard to build an accurate picture of what has happened and why you believe you have been treated unfairly.”

 

Tel 01604 400808      Fax 01604 400813    info@northamptonshirerec.org.uk