A spud-tacular win.
An Irish woman scored a $31,000 windfall in a racial discrimination suit after her British boss repeatedly hurled racist slurs – including calling her a “potato” – in an Emerald Isle accent at her.
Bernadette Hayes, 55, said the six months of bullying she received at the hands of her boss, Mick Atkins, made her feel like she had “suffered a death by a thousand cuts,” the Independent reported.
The scorned bookkeeper told a UK employment court that her hateful manager — at West Leeds Civil Ltd, a civil engineering firm in Leeds — taunted her by repeatedly shouting “potato” in a strong Irish brogue and hurled other derogatory insults like “paddy,” “stupid paddy” and “pikey.”
The abuse started in late 2023, according to court papers.
Hayes said Atkins also made racial remarks, but she felt the harassment only got worse when another man joined the firm – leaving her “physically sick” and terrified of being ridiculed by them, the outlet reported.
“This totally eroded my self-respect and my self-esteem,” she told the court, adding she was too scared to confront her “intimidating, volatile” boss.
“It made me feel small, insecure, violated and extremely anxious. It also made me feel embarrassed.”
Hayes quit her job in July 2024 after the relentless attacks left her with panic attacks and insomnia, court documents said, according to the outlet.
Judge Sophie Buckley awarded the woman the hefty sum after ruling Atkins had created a “hostile, humiliating and offensive” workplace.
“In my view, taken as a whole, it is reasonable for an individual of Irish heritage to find the repeated use of the terms ‘potato’, ‘Paddy’, ‘stupid Paddy’ and ‘pikey’ offensive and humiliating,” the judge determined.
“These phrases are overtly linked to race, particularly when considered together rather than in isolation. On that basis, I find that the conduct was linked to race.”
