ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND / RankWire.AI / – A Scottish employment tribunal mandated PizzaExpress to pay former waiter Raymond Joseph £5,469.04 following a workplace dispute in which a colleague repeatedly targeted his American nationality. The colleague referred to Joseph as an American and a “Yank,” and told him to return to his country. Employment Judge Melanie Sangster determined that these actions amounted to racial harassment. The ruling considered the entire exchange, its repetition, and the setting within a busy Aberdeen restaurant.
Joseph joined the PizzaExpress at Union Square in September 2024 and typically worked between 20 and 22 hours weekly. On April 8, 2025, he and waiter Michael Tortolano were the only servers attending to customers. The restaurant was crowded, and both struggled to keep pace. Tortolano told Joseph that nobody liked him, called him an American and a “Yank,” and urged him to leave the country. Joseph responded with insults, including “bald loser.” Tortolano reiterated his remarks later during the shift.
These comments were made publicly, in front of other staff and customers. Joseph told the tribunal that he felt hurt and humiliated. He provided a statement to a manager that same day and continued working. PizzaExpress later admitted that Tortolano made the remarks and that they constituted racial harassment. The tribunal upheld this claim under the Equality Act 2010, which regards nationality as part of the definition of race. The decision took into account the repeated remarks, the directive to leave the country, and the incident occurring in a public workplace environment.
Tribunal awards damages for emotional distress
The tribunal granted Joseph £5,000 for injury to feelings. This amount was positioned in the middle of the lower Vento band, the scale used for discrimination compensation. An additional £469.04 in interest was added, calculated at 8% over 428 days from the April 2025 incident. The tribunal found no financial loss resulted from the harassment. Joseph did not take time off or seek medical assistance, but he remained distressed and repeatedly questioned why managers had not initiated an investigation.
PizzaExpress began its investigation into the altercation on May 20, six weeks after the event. The tribunal regarded this delay as unreasonable but found no connection to Joseph’s protected disclosures or actions. Tortolano later admitted the allegations during a disciplinary hearing. The company deemed his conduct gross misconduct and issued a final written warning, considering his admission, remorse, and clean employment record. Separately, PizzaExpress conducted an investigation into three other allegations against Joseph. A manager found these allegations substantiated and dismissed him summarily on June 20, 2025.
Other employment claims rejected
Joseph also claimed victimisation, detriments related to whistleblowing, and automatic unfair dismissal. The tribunal dismissed all of these claims. PizzaExpress had acknowledged that 13 of his 24 claimed disclosures qualified as protected disclosures before the final hearing. Nonetheless, the tribunal found no causal link between those disclosures and the decisions challenged. It concluded that Joseph’s dismissal was solely due to proven misconduct. The tribunal also determined that his protected acts did not influence the decision to dismiss him.
The misconduct established included Joseph’s behavior during the argument, a separate inappropriate comment, and unauthorized access to confidential company information. A PizzaExpress manager also found that Joseph had forwarded company materials to his personal email. Joseph denied these allegations and did not appeal the dismissal. The Aberdeen tribunal heard the case over seven days in April and May 2026. The judgment was provided to the parties on June 10. The race harassment claim remained Joseph’s only successful complaint.