A senior manager at a security firm which has been accused by Siptu of harbouring a “culture of racism” has denied a claim by a former colleague that he told a subordinate: “Shut the f*** up you foreign c***.”
The allegation was made as part of an Employment Equality Act complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) by another former manager, who claims that alleged racism in the firm is behind the fact that he was stripped of his duties after punching an alleged serial shoplifter.
The complainant, former contract manager Sayed Baqur-Hussein, said that the fact that he and an Indian security guard were sanctioned over the incident by One Complete Solutions Ltd (OCS) while a Polish colleague was not sanctioned was “a clear case of a different race”.
The company, the main security contractor for Tesco and Irish Rail, denies the claims and has argued that Mr Baqur-Hussein failed to follow company procedures and de-escalate the situation – while the complainant insists he was in fear of a “life threat” and acting in self-defence.
The tribunal previously heard Mr Baqur-Hussein and another security manager helped a static security guard intercept a man and woman who were attempting to walk out of Tesco in the Jervis Shopping Centre in Dublin with a pram full of meat they had not paid for on 30th August, 2022.
After confiscating the meat, the three security staff escorted the man to the foot of an escalator leading out of the supermarket, with the man then racially abusing him, Mr Baqur-Hussein said in evidence.
“Try to come out, I’ll kick the shit out of you, you Paki paedo,” was one of the remarks alleged, before the man “slapped” the Indian security officer, breaking the man’s glasses and causing his head to strike Mr Baqur-Hussain in the face.
The complainant’s line manager, Vincent Galvin, told the WRC on Monday that he came to scene of the incident at Jervis Street on the day in question and later referred all three OCS staff involved for investigation after examining CCTV footage of the incident and speaking to them about what happened.
Nicola Coleman of the Siptu Workers’ Rights Centre questioned Mr Galvin on the lack of reference to racial abuse in his report on the matter and asked whether he thought racial abuse had been relevant to what happened.
“I can’t say whether it was or it wasn’t; I wasn’t present and there’s no audio on the CCTV,” he said. “When he turned around and started at them, if they felt it was going to become physical – and they have known this male to become aggressive – they’re trained to step away,” Mr Galvin said.
“So the racial abuse is not relevant?” Ms Coleman asked.
“That’s not what I said,” Mr Galvin replied.
“What the company has said is that the company expects the same response irrespective of the abuse,” said adjudicator Máire Mulcahy. “I’m going to have to consider whether it is of significance that you did or didn’t register in your report that the complainant suffered racial abuse,” she added.
Mr Baqur-Hussein and the Indian security guard received sanctions, but the third worker, a Polish national, was not referred to a disciplinary hearing, the tribunal has heard.
A central element of the trade union’s case is that a “culture of racism” exists at the firm and had a bearing on what happened in the wake of the alleged shoplifter incident. When the complaint was first heard before Christmas, a witness called by the trade union, Przemyslaw Pindel, gave evidence that there was a “really toxic” atmosphere among account managers at OCS’s headquarters while he worked in its head office between 2019 and 2022.
Among the matters referred to by Mr Pindel in his evidence was that on a date in late March or early April 2021, he was on the phone to Mr Baqur-Hussein’s line manager when the man “screamed” at a security guard: “Shut the f*** up you foreign c***.”
“There was a moment of silence. He said: ‘Oh Przemyslaw, not you, this c*** here,” Mr Pindel said.
Mr Galvin told the tribunal: “I absolutely did not make those comments.” He further denied under questioning from Mr Baqur-Hussein’s trade union rep, Nicola Coleman of the Siptu Workers’ Rights Centre that he would use “any racist language”.
The tribunal also heard from Marion Mahony, a manager assigned to look into the conduct of the other two staff involved in the shoplifter incident. The investigator who examined Mr Baqur-Hussein’s conduct gave evidence on a previous date.
Ms Mahony said that it was “obvious” that the other account manager on the scene that day “was trying to defuse the situation” and “wasn’t the aggressor”.
“I could see the other two guys were in the front throwing kicks and punches; he went in with open hands,” she said.
“I know there was racial abuse and I did feel sympathy, it isn’t nice. I did tell him [the Indian security guard] it’s part and parcel of the job. If a shoplifter is stopped it doesn’t matter what race you are, you’re going to be called names,” she said.
Irish Business and Employers Confederation solicitor Catriona McKeating, who appeared on behalf of the firm, asked whether race was a factor in her decision to refer the Indian security guard to a disciplinary process but not taking that action for the Polish contract manager.
“To be quite honest, I didn’t know there was any difference. They were just two security officers involved in a situation, it didn’t matter what race they were,” she said.
Jason Cremin, the company disciplinary officer who decided to demote Mr Baqur-Hussein on foot of the findings of an investigation, said the complainant twice “chose to be the aggressor” and admitted that he had failed to follow the procedures he was supposed to be demonstrating to subordinates.
He said it was clear that Mr Baqur-Hussein should have kept the alleged shoplifter “at arm’s length” but instead “kept going” after him.
“They were in close proximity and I believe that escalated the situation, which led to the security guard being struck. There were two options, [first] to lead the security guard to safety, and back away, but he didn’t do that, he launched in and escalated the situation,” Mr Cremin said of the complainant.
He said he decided to stop short of dismissal as a sanction on foot of Mr Baqur-Hussein’s long service for the firm and clean disciplinary record up to that point.
The case was adjourned and is to continue into a fourth day, when a senior manager who heard Mr Baqur-Hussein’s appeal of the disciplinary sanction is expected to give his evidence.
Adjudicator Máire Mulcahy has directed the press not to identify any individuals named in connection with the case prior to them giving evidence.
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