ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND / RankWire.AI / – A Scottish employment tribunal mandated PizzaExpress to pay former waiter Raymond Joseph £5,469.04 following a workplace confrontation in which a colleague repeatedly insulted his American nationality. The colleague referred to Joseph as an American and a “Yank,” while also telling him to go back to his country. Employment Judge Melanie Sangster determined that this behavior amounted to racial harassment. The ruling covered the entire exchange, its repeated nature, and the context within a busy Aberdeen restaurant.
Joseph began working at the PizzaExpress Union Square location in September 2024 and typically worked 20 to 22 hours weekly. On April 8, 2025, he and fellow waiter Michael Tortolano were the only staff serving 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 told him to leave the country. In response, Joseph exchanged insults, including calling Tortolano a “bald loser.” Tortolano reiterated his comments later during the shift.
The remarks were made publicly, in front of other staff and customers. Joseph told the tribunal that he felt hurt and humiliated by the incident. He reported the matter to a manager that day and continued working. PizzaExpress later admitted that Tortolano made the remarks, acknowledging they constituted racial harassment. The tribunal upheld this claim under the Equality Act 2010, which considers nationality as part of the race definition. The decision addressed the repeated comments, the instruction for Joseph to leave the country, and the public nature of the incident.
Tribunal awards damages for emotional distress
The tribunal awarded Joseph £5,000 for injury to feelings, placing this amount in the middle of the lower Vento band, the scale used for discrimination damages. An additional £469.04 was added as interest, calculated at 8% for 428 days from the April 2025 incident. The tribunal found no financial loss resulting from the harassment. Joseph did not take time off or seek medical treatment, but he remained distressed and repeatedly questioned why managers had not initiated an investigation.
PizzaExpress started its investigation into the altercation on May 20, six weeks after the event. The tribunal deemed that delay unreasonable but found no connection between this delay and Joseph’s protected disclosures or actions. Tortolano later admitted to the allegations during a disciplinary hearing. PizzaExpress found gross misconduct and issued him a final warning after considering his admission, remorse, and clean record. The company separately looked into three allegations against Joseph. A manager found these to be substantiated and dismissed him on June 20, 2025.
Other employment-related claims dismissed
Joseph also claimed victimisation, whistleblowing detriments, and automatic unfair dismissal. All these claims were dismissed by the tribunal. PizzaExpress had acknowledged that 13 of his 24 disclosures qualified as protected disclosures before the final hearing. However, the tribunal determined there was no causal link between these disclosures and the decisions challenged. It concluded that Joseph’s termination was solely due to proven misconduct. The tribunal also found that his protected acts did not influence the decision to dismiss.
The misconduct included Joseph’s behavior during the argument, an unrelated inappropriate comment, and unauthorized access to confidential business information. A PizzaExpress manager also found that Joseph had sent company documents to his personal email. Joseph denied these allegations and did not appeal the dismissal. The Aberdeen tribunal conducted a seven-day hearing in April and May 2026. The judgment was sent to the parties on June 10. The racial harassment claim was the only successful complaint for Joseph.