By Gordon Deegan

A state workplace watchdog has ordered that an agri-food worker harassed by his line manager and called a lazy, fat, blind, old, drunken Polish communist be awarded €8,000 compensation.

In a ruling at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), adjudicator, Penelope McGrath has found that Czeslaw Kaminski was subjected to a sustained campaign of unacceptable behaviour and discriminatory harassment by his Moldovan line manager.

McGrath has found that Czeslaw Kaminski was discriminated against on race and age ground and has ordered his employer, Lusk based agri-business, Ballymaguire Foods Ltd., pay the general operative €8,000 compensation.

Discriminatory harassment

In her findings, the WRC adjudicator stated that it is very upsetting to think that Czeslaw Kaminski “was made to feel physically inadequate and ashamed of his age, weight and poor eyesight”. 

Penelope McGrath further added: “It is not right that he was fearful within the workplace. That he was, in essence, being described as a lazy drunken Polish person is racist and unacceptable.”

The adjudicator stated that on balance, she found Kaminski’s evidence “to be both compelling and heartfelt”. 

She said: “This is a man who I accept came into work with some trepidation and not a small amount of fear.”

She stated that she accepted Kaminski’s very real sense of grievance against Ballymaguire Foods for not better protecting him against this regime of subjugation. 

“This was a sustained campaign of bullying and harassment with unacceptable racial and ageist overtones,” McGrath said.

Agri-food business

The WRC representative stated that she was inclined to accept that much of senior management within the food firm was unaware of the difficulties being experienced by Czeslaw Kaminski.

“However, it does not seem appropriate or fair to allow management to rely on the fearful silence instilled in the complainant as some sort of defence for its inaction,” she continued.

McGrath stated that additionally, she believes the line manager knew exactly what he was doing and it is an unavoidable fact that he represents the firm. 

“He is the line manager exerting control over the complainant when it is manifestly clear that he was unsuited to do so,” the adjudicator stated.

Employee testimony at WRC

A native of Poland, Kaminski has been living here since 2006 and commenced working with Ballymaguire Foods Ltd., in 2017 on the minimum wage.

In evidence, Kaminski, represented by barrister Marie Flynn, instructed by solicitor, Tracy Brady at McGuigan Solicitors, alleged that his line manager “humiliated him and intimidated him”.

Kaminski alleged that his line manager described him as an “old communist” and a stupid or blind communist and often described him as a Polish alcoholic – an offensive stereotyping of the Polish race. 

“It seems that there was this constant put down of the complainant as a Polish person,” the adjudicator stated.

She said that describing him as a communist is particularly disparaging in the context of Polish self-identification and history.

McGrath stated that much of the line manager’s ire seemed to be directed at Kaminski not being as fast in the workplace as he would have liked. 

She stated that the frequent suggestions by the line manager that Kaminski was fat, old and blind appeared to be based on him being too old and too unfit to do the job.

Kaminski stated that in one incident on June 12, 2020 where his line manager used offensive language in the usual way, Kaminski’s health deteriorated significantly to the extent that he had to have a family member come in and bring him to hospital with a suspected cardiac incident. 

Penelope McGrath stated: “I understand that the complainant had a surgical by-pass.”

WRC

In evidence, the line manager told the WRC hearing that he speaks up to three languages and has a good attitude and relationship with all nationalities in the workplace. 

He rejected the notion that he favoured Moldovans over other nationalities and denied he can even say the word communist in Polish.

Ballymaguire Foods Ltd., which prepares foods for major retail and supermarket clients at considerable scale – contended that Kaminski simply never brought any of these issues to the attention of the firm.

It stated that it maintains a zero tolerance policy to any and all discriminatory behaviour and given its diverse workforce, that is the only way it can operate.

The firm’s human resources (HR) manager told the hearing that no complaint had been made by anyone about the line manager and the company position is that Kaminski was treated no differently on the basis of his age or race.

The HR manager stated that the line manager is a popular member of staff and that Kaminski’s allegations against him had come out of the blue.

The WRC adjudicator stated that it was not clear to her whether or not Kaminski’s employment relationship has been terminated.

“I do not accept that the complainant’s multiplicity of medical complaints have been caused by the workplace discrimination he was subjected to. This has not been established as a matter of fact,” she concluded.