Lucy Devine
An Irish woman has won thousands of pounds in a lawsuit against her boss who repeatedly shouted 'potato' at her.
Bernadette Hayes, a book keeper, had been working for engineering company, West Leeds Civils in Holbeck when she was repeatedly subjected to 'offensive and humiliating' phrases.
Hayes reported that her boss, Mick Atkins, would shout the word 'potato' at her in an Irish accent. Hayes told an employment tribunal that while she 'knew it was wrong' she tried to 'accept it as humour'.
However, Hayes explained that when Atkins' friend Marcus Smith became involved in the company, things escalated.
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"If we had a disagreement, he would shout 'potato' in a strong Irish accent over and over again," she said.
"He would shout 'potato' as soon as he walked in the office without me having even spoken to him.
"It made me feel small, insecure, violated and extremely anxious."
Hayes explained that the behaviour 'totally eroded my self-respect and my self-esteem', meanwhile Atkins also sent her a photo of a potato in messages on WhatsApp.
Hayes took sick leave in July 2024, sending the following message to Atkins: "I do want to leave, I am sorry.
"Life is too short and I have been unhappy for some time, and it's not fair on either of us to let that continue."
In a statement, she said: "I had a huge change in my personal circumstances, and I needed my job.
"I felt trapped, and this added to my anxiety. I used to remain quiet so as not to draw attention to myself but even this did not work.
"He even sent 'potato' in a WhatsApp exchange. Mr Atkins further called me a gypsy/traveller due to my Irish heritage. He would constantly say that I was lusting after the travellers outside the office. I felt bullied and harassed by this."
Judge Buckley awarded Hayes £20,735.91 and the company was ordered to pay Hayes four weeks' wages.
"As soon as she woke up on a working morning, she began thinking about the comments and felt nervous for what would happen that day," said Judge Buckley, as per the Daily Mail.
"She didn't want to attend work but knew she needed to. She found herself delaying going into work. She often would sit in her car outside work prior to her working day trying to encourage herself to go into the building.
"She would wait to see who was in the carpark and hope she didn't see Mr Atkins' car. She would also check her emails to see if she could figure out if Mr Atkins would be away from the office.
"She felt physically sick walking into the office when Mr Atkins and Mr Smith were both there as she dreaded them mocking her.
"She would walk into the building with her head down and try to go into the office really quietly and quickly to avoid entering into conversation with Mr Atkins or Mr Smith.
"As soon as she sat down at her desk she would start making work phone calls and checking emails to avoid entering into conversation."
When approached by the Daily Mail, Atkins described the court proceedings as 'nonsense from start to finish', adding: "I’d just like to put everything behind me and move on."