Racist remark at work

OK I want to get a quick opinion on this matter in work,
Basically work in a place with many different nationalities and was working away and we had a small disagreement over who was doing what. Nothing major, how ever a foreign Co worker shouted at us "f****** lazy Irish"

Now I didn't react and he was shouting other things aswell about being stupid. Now he went on for a while and I reacted and basically warned him to stop with the carry on, so after lunch he had been over complaining about me for some unknown reason. I went in gave my version of events and he went in for his and we were back and forth all day.

The management have said they can't do anything as its my word against his, he hasn't denied saying the racial slur but they haven't asked him did he say it. They asked him what words he was saying but he didn't say what he said. Now another Co worker heard it and it was directed at both of us but they told me they can't go asking him unless he comes forward himself.
What are my options Here? I'm not happy to let it go as if I said the same line to him I wouldn't of had a chance to explain anything I'd of been gone....while it may not be the worst thing to be said its still not nice

Orangebrigade

Have you checked out the offended line on the BBC website? If you phone them, I am sure they will give you more details on what to do.

Zillah

Fecking lazy Irish asking the internet what they should do.

jimgoose

dodderangler wrote: »

So we have had a cyclist thread and a racism thread in one day???
Jaysus AH is coming back to it's old ways

What?? What blasted new pedaling-bicycle thread is this?!??

biko

Feck off back to Ireland, Paddy

jimgoose

Deleted User wrote: »

He is Asian. Not that it matters

Japers buck-jumping Crikes on an NSU Quickly, help me out here - where exactly in Asia? I mean, I need to know if I work in dog lasagne here, or what?? It's a slippery slope, you'd be surprised what can have a racist slant.

Boom_Bap

Moved from AH.
If you are following the re-direct from AH, please look at the Work & Jobs charter before posting.

crazygeryy

You know what you should have let it go, because your only raising your blood pressure. How far are you willing to go with this? What do you want an apology?
Your wasting your own time and putting your stress levels up.
Forget it and move on And when no one is around call him an Asian ****.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Was he eating rice at the time? Not that it matters.

Personally I'd let it go. The irish are lazy as a race (Im Irish) so he was probably just generalising about Irish people but you could have told him he can go back to his own country if the irish people bother him that much...I'm sure that would have got the attention of your pandering cowardly management.

It's not that I'm going to be majorly upset that he said it, he said it aggressive and fingers in the face. Should the management not deal with it abit better?
And it's more the point if roles were reversed I know how they would deal with me.

realdanbreen

Deleted User wrote: »

It's not that I'm going to be majorly upset that he said it, he said it aggressive and fingers in the face. Should the management not deal with it abit better?
And it's more the point if roles were reversed I know how they would deal with me.

What sort of work do ye do?

jimgoose

Deleted User wrote: »

It's not that I'm going to be majorly upset that he said it, he said it aggressive and fingers in the face. Should the management not deal with it abit better?
And it's more the point if roles were reversed I know how they would deal with me.

I'll tell you what I think about it, being serious for a sec - I'm a middle-aged, property-owning, white Caucasian male of Scandinavian/Celtic descent, living in an affluent part of a comfortable, safe city on the tip of Western Europe in 2015. The notion of anyone being "racist" towards me or anyone like me is, to me, utterly ridiculous. I suspect you might be similar, like a lot of folk on this forum. I'd laugh at him, and stroll right on. Oh, and, if he's Indian I'd look intently at him with a slightly frowning, very thoughtful, serious expression and go "Iggery-buggery, iggery-buggery, iggery-buggery-buggery-buggery iggery-buggery..."

As I've stated already I'm not overly upset about the Irish thing. And no one likes to be called stupid especially for little things and as for being lazy I was the only one who had started working.
I work in a factory.
What would other companies do in a situation with aggressive behaviour? In terms of work load that myself and him do we probably do the most in factory

HandsomeDan

Sounds like he suffers from foreign ape complex. Tell him to fuk off back to his rice paddy.

jimgoose

Deleted User wrote: »

...What would other companies do in a situation with aggressive behaviour? In terms of work load that myself and him do we probably do the most in factory

It depends on the company. In an American IT sort of place, HR would give him a rap on the knuckles, possibly a verbal warning. Abusive, threatening, aggressive behaviour of any sort is intolerable. In a steel-foundry in Cork, surrounded by a couple of dozen fifty-year-old wide-boys with hands like shovels, he's get a couple of shots into the butt a' the ear and get flung into a dumpster.

NoCrackHaving

jimgoose wrote: »

I'll tell you what I think about it, being serious for a sec - I'm a middle-aged, property-owning, white Caucasian male of Scandinavian/Celtic descent, living in an affluent part of a comfortable, safe city on the tip of Western Europe in 2015. The notion of anyone being "racist" towards me or anyone like me is, to me, utterly ridiculous. I suspect you might be similar, like a lot of folk on this forum. I'd laugh at him, and stroll right on. Oh, and, if he's Indian I'd look intently at him with a slightly frowning, very thoughtful, serious expression and go "Iggery-buggery, iggery-buggery, iggery-buggery-buggery-buggery iggery-buggery..."

Am I the only one who finds the word Caucasian very eugenics like. You wouldn't go around describing people as Negroid or Mongoloid so why do people still use Caucasian. It's also nearly always only by Americans.

jimgoose

NoCrackHaving wrote: »

Am I the only one who finds the word Caucasian very eugenics like. You wouldn't go around describing people as Negroid or Mongoloid so why do people still use Caucasian. It's also nearly always only by Americans.

You're probably thinking of "Caucasoid".

Alf Veedersane

NoCrackHaving wrote: »

Am I the only one who finds the word Caucasian very eugenics like. You wouldn't go around describing people as Negroid or Mongoloid so why do people still use Caucasian. It's also nearly always only by Americans.

I find it amusing because it reminds me of the Krazeee-Eyez Killah episode of Curb.

FobleAsNuck

since when "Irish" is a race?

jimgoose

FobleAsNuck wrote: »

since when "Irish" is a race?

Since a famine-stricken Mayoman laid out a stunted, narcissistic Guinea with one clatter at Ellis Island in 1852.

Hanlock

Being Irish is not a race and therefore, it's not racist. It's prejudiced and not very nice but honestly, he probably receives a lot worse. Try and put yourself in his place and wonder why he would feel the need to say something like that to you. To resolve the dispute, you're going to have to learn how to work along side each other so I wouldn't play the victim. What he said to you, in my view, as born Irish but with immigrant parents, is very tame.

Sunny Disposition

If ye're working in Ireland I wouldn't worry about it too much, guessing ye probably are? Very stupid thing to say though, particularly in a place with a good few nationalities. Management would want to deal with it properly.

FishOnABike

jimgoose wrote: »

Japers buck-jumping Crikes on an NSU Quickly, help me out here - where exactly inAsia? I mean, I need to know if I work in dog lasagne here, or what?? It's a slippery slope, you'd be surprised what can have a racist slant.

Asia...racist...slant. I see what you did there. A great bunch of lads.

It was a minor disagreement over work it was no big deal he done what he was supposed to in the end.
May think about it over the weekend but if I said to him "lazy Chinese bastard" I'd be a racist and disciplined accordingly.

Neon_Lights

FobleAsNuck wrote: »

since when "Irish" is a race?

Ah were not a race at all were apparently lazy

newacc2015

Here is one thing I learnt in Retail. If you get into an argument with a customer, tell the manager or owner immediately. Give them an email if they arent there explaining what happen. So if there is a complaint, you arent seen as covering your ass even if you werent at fault. It also looks better if you came forward first. My manager said in her experience of retail. You will only get a customer complaint from a customer who treated you like **** and were at fault. But they felt guilty or were trying to clear their conscience. So they write a snotty email to the management.

Personally if I were you. I would have wrote HR a quick email explaining what he said or did. Tell them you didnt want to bring it forward or it investigated. You just wanted to bring it to their attention. That way if the little **** stirrer went to HR(which he did), I imagine he thought you would probably go to management. He would look like the guilty party.

Mrs OBumble

NoCrackHaving wrote: »

Am I the only one who finds the word Caucasian very eugenics like. You wouldn't go around describing people as Negroid or Mongoloid so why do people still use Caucasian. It's also nearly always only by Americans.

So what word would you use to describe non-Traveller Irish?

In the absence of anything else, Caucasian is as good as any. And it's most certainly not only Americans who use it.


As for the "Irish isn't a race" - that's irrelevant. Racism is broadly thought of as discrimination on the basis of any of race, nationality or ethnicity.

OP, TBH, it sounds like your management need to grow a pair of whatever bits they're missing. There is no reason why they cannot ask specific questions of your co-worker - they simply don't want to. There's probably not a lot you can do. But I'd be job-hunting if I had a boss who allowed that to go on.

4Marie

Let it go, if he flips out again there's already a complaint . Your coworker hasn't stepped up so you have no support. You'll end up worrying more about this and less about your work and then your really living up to the lazy Irish stereotype

Well see there hasn't been any warning given to him so if it happens again the there is no evidence anything was said to him befor. If they even had the balls to say racial remarks will not be tolerated to him I'd be happy. But so far they didn't say it.

realdanbreen

realdanbreen wrote: »

What sort of work do ye do?

?

realdanbreen

realdanbreen wrote: »

?

Factory work, shouldn't matter what work it is anyways. And as for the minor disagreement and his statement....I was the only one who had started so I'm not sure where he got the "lazy" from

Jamaican Me Crazy

I'm a HR Manager and I have intervened several times informally where racist remarks were made usually in the guise of 'joking'. It is a very multi-cultural workplace so I'd give a verbal rap on the knuckles and usually that would be the end of it.

I'd let it go this time but if it happens again, let HR know.

Jamaican Me Crazy

Jamaican Me Crazy wrote: »

I'm a HR Manager and I have intervened several times informally where racist remarks were made usually in the guise of 'joking'. It is a very multi-cultural workplace so I'd give a verbal rap on the knuckles and usually that would be the end of it.

I'd let it go this time but if it happens again, let HR know.

Thanks for your reply.

I have no problem letting it go to be honest as long as they have mentioned it to him about remarks like that. As far as I gathered from my manager the Co worker in question thinks I complained about his offensive language and shouting, rather than the racial comment.

Jamaican Me Crazy

Well he shouldn't be using offensive language and shouting at a colleague either. I think (maybe I'm wrong) in a more male dominated workplace things like this have a blind eye turned to them.

From a HR perspective, I would intervene if a staff member came to me and told me what you told me and I would just have an informal chat. I also recommend to line managers that they have brief meetings with their teams and just say to everyone about how they talk to each other. Small things but it often does the trick.