Jeniffer Campbell’s allegations of racial discrimination and harassment were thrown out by a tribunal amid discrepancies between her claims and witnesses’ statements, reports Sebastian Mann, Local Democracy Reporter
A barrister’s claims that she was racially discriminated against and victimised by Waltham Forest Council were dismissed over differing versions of events.
The claimant, identified as Jeniffer Campbell, said that her treatment from her line manager, Alexandra Jacobs, between August 2019 and her dismissal in July 2020 amounted to direct and indirect race discrimination, harrassment, and victimisation.
She pointed to several incidents, including being allegedly referred to as “not vanilla enough” and “glamorous”, and being humiliated publicly.
All ten allegations ultimately failed, with the East London Employment Tribunal finding several discrepancies between her claims and witnesses’ statements.
During the long-running tribunal, held on several dates in May, September and October 2021, it was alleged that Alexandra had made the vanilla comment about the claimant as a person. However, she contested that it was in fact the barrister who had used the term, about her own writing style.
The tribunal accepted that Jeniffer described her own writing as “not vanilla enough,” meaning that it could be safer and blander.
In evidence, the claimant had insisted she did not know the meaning of the word but her line manager had explained that, though she spoke the language well, English was her second language and she did not always understand idioms.
She had not heard the term used before that August meeting, but found it interesting.
Jeniffer had then sent an email after the meeting in which she correctly used the term, leading the panel to ultimately accept Alexandra’s version of events.
The case also ran aground over Alexandra introducing the claimant to a colleague as the “glamour corner”.
This story is published by Waltham Forest Echo, Waltham Forest's free monthly newspaper and free news website. We are a not-for-profit publication, published by a small social enterprise. We have no rich backers and rely on the support of our readers. Donate or become a supporter.
While the tribunal found a non-professional greeting can be “belittling”, the panel members agreed the comment did not constitute harassment.
A witness said Jeniffer took care of her appearance and dressed well at work. Alexandra had also complemented her dress sense previously, which Jeniffer acknowledged.
In a report published in early 2024, the panel wrote: “We cannot see how the claimant would understand the comment as having any racial connotation, rather than being a misjudged comment on the claimant’s personal style. Therefore, the claim for harassment fails.”
Similarly, the panel ruled that the two incidents of Jeniffer being spoken to in a humiliating manner “did not happen as [she] described”.
Criticism of her work was also found to not have been problematic. There was no basis for them to be seen as racial discrimination, and while they upset Jeniffer, the tribunal said they did not constitute harassment either.
The tribunal decided that the emails were all professional in tone, and appropriate for correspondence between an employee and their manager, even if Jeniffer found Alexandra’s behaviour “different” or “unusual”.
Jeniffer had also been critical of how Alexandra communicated as a manager and felt that different language could have been used.
But the differences in language and style the claimant indicated she would have preferred were “trivial,” the tribunal said. The line manager was said to speak to all colleagues in a similar way.
Jeniffer was a contracted agency worker at the council, joining its commercial team in December 2018. The tribunal said it believed the council’s reasons for terminating her contract were genuine.
These included “an intention to reduce the number of agency lawyers” due to the return of an in-house barrister and “long standing issues with [Jeniffer’s] performance such as client complaints”.
All three claims were dismissed on 2nd October 2023.
The Echo needs you. No matter how small, your support makes a difference
Waltham Forest Echo is a community newspaper that holds authority to account, highlights inequality, promotes good causes, and provides a platform for local people. We do real local news with no paywalls, free to read for all. We can only do this with the continued support of our readers. If you can afford to, please consider supporting us with a small monthly, yearly or one-off contribution.
Monthly direct debit
Annual direct debit
£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else.
More information on supporting us monthly or annually
More Information about donations
