An Irishman claimed yesterday that he suffered racial discrimination when he applied for a job as a cashier with the Halifax Building Society in a west London area.
Mr Mark Ferguson said he was told he "did not fit the branch" in High Street, Kensington, and branch manager Mr Nicholas Garland spent 13 minutes of the 17minute interview asking him questions about being Irish.
Mr Ferguson (30), a Protestant from Co Fermanagh, said he told Mr Garland he had come to London in 1994 to broaden his horizons.
But instead of asking him questions about his application, Mr Ferguson said he was asked eight other "irrelevant" Irish questions including: "What was it like growing up with the Troubles? Tell me about life in Ireland? Do you go home to Ireland often? Do you live with Irish people?"
Mr Ferguson, who lives in Crystal Palace, south London, is claiming he was racially discriminated against by the Halifax during the interview in May 1996.
He said: "I was not interviewed. I was patronised.
"I was appalled. After two minutes I felt like walking out of the room, but I wanted the job.
"I tried to remain calm and answered the questions as best I could.
"I think they should not have been asked of me. They were totally irrelevant to the position vacant.
"As far as I could see, the only thing they wanted to see was that I was Irish. "I have been to many interviews since leaving school, but I have never experienced anything like this. It was disgusting."
Mr Ferguson said that after the interview with two managers at the branch, he was given a 90second cursory tour and then shown the door.
A week later he was told he had not been selected and he was not offered any other interviews at Halifax branches, even though they had his papers for another nine months.
Mr Ferguson said he had recently seen a note from the personnel department saying he was turned down at Kensington for reasons including a negative approach and being hesitant when asked questions.
At the time, he was working on an eight-month contract with the Halifax, being sent to various branches to do clerical work and photo-copying.
But he had applied for a permanent position, passing an aptitude test, a 90-minute interview and being recommended by his then manager.
He had been led to believe that a branch interview was a final formality and a sort of personality test, he added.
Ms Ann O'Brien, representing the Halifax, which switched from a building society to a bank in August 1997, told the tribunal in Bloomsbury, central London, that the company had never been found guilty of racial discrimination.
She said Mr Ferguson had been given two out of five in an accuracy test.
She said: "If it had been someone from outside, they may not have been put through an interview.
"I think there might have been an element of misguided kindness."
She asked Mr Ferguson why he wanted to be identified as Irish when most people in Northern Ireland wanted to be identified as British.
Mr Ferguson told her: "I am Irish. I've spent almost 28 years in Northern Ireland."
The hearing was adjourned until today.