MAN SACKED FOR MOCK-IRISH GREETING AWARDED £16K FOR UNFAIR DISMISSAL AT TRIBUNAL

JUDGE SAYS DECISION BASED ON PARTICULAR CASE AND 'NOT WOKENESS OR ANTI-WOKENESS'

- By NEIL SHAW and STEVE BAGNALL

A MAN has won more than £16,000 for unfair dismissal, after he was sacked after saying “top the morning to ya” to a colleague in a mock Irish accent, an employment tribunal heard.

Karl Davies, who was aged 57 at the time, was working at Wrexham’s Oscar Mayer ready meal manufacturing site when, on August 13, 2024, when he greeted a manager, Scott Millward, in the accent, while listening to Irish music.

Mr Millward had been escorting a “redheaded” external auditor when the remark was made, and he reported his colleague to the employer, which launched a probe into whether the comments amounted to racial harassment, the tribunal in Mold was told.

The claimant repeated the phrase multiple times, with tribunal Judge Vincent Ryan accepting that he was “effectively channelling the musical vibe”.