A Muslim woman who faced sexual and anti-Muslim harassment from a previous employer has received £27,715.56 from an Employment Tribunal.
The woman, who is not legally identified, according to MyLondon News, had worked for an organic retailer called Elisa Organic and Whole Foods in the summer of 2021.
She described verbal abuse, threats, and harassment about her Muslim identity – including being told to remove her hijab and to wear ‘tighter clothes and makeup’.
Her witness statement described the toll such abuse and harassment had on her. Examples included throwing rotting produce at her and how the employer, identified as Engin Babur, made classist remarks about her accent and would bang his fist on the countertop. And in one shocking example, he was alleged to have pointed a kitchen knife he was using at her and said, “I have had enough of your b******t”.
Upon leaving, the woman added that Mr Babur used racist language towards her and said how you “should not mess with a Turk”.
Other claims won include a failure to provide the woman with an employment contract, a failure to pay wages and holiday pay entitlements and conduct that would have allowed her to have left the employer without notice. The company no longer exists, and the property remains vacant, where the allegations arose.
The experience caused her lasting traumas and anxieties and depression.
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