Mixed race Ralph Lauren stylist was racially harassed by her boss

Mixed race Ralph Lauren stylist was racially harassed by her boss at flagship Sloane Square store who compared her to the ‘United Colours of Benetton’

• Rikki Grey worked at the designer brand’s store in Sloane Square in London
• The stylist, whose mother is Jamaican, was left ‘traumatised’ by the incident 

A mixed race Ralph Lauren stylist was racially harassed by her boss who compared her to the ‘United Colours of Benetton’.

Rikki Grey worked at the designer brand’s flagship store in Sloane Square, London, where her ‘offensive’ boss likened her mixed ethnicity to the Italian fashion brand – known in the 1980s for it’s multi-racial advertising campaigns.

The part-time worker, whose mother is Jamaican, was left ‘traumatised’ by the incident and said it had made her see the world in a ‘different way’, an employment tribunal heard.

She went off sick with work-related stress as a result and launched legal proceedings, making claims of racial discrimination and harassment.

Miss Grey is now in line to receive compensation after she won a race harassment case and a judge ruled her boss had used language ‘patently related’ to her mixed heritage.

Rikki Grey, who worked at Ralph Lauren ‘s flagship store (pictured) in Sloane Square, London, was racially harassed by her boss who compared her to the ‘United Colours of Benetton’

The tribunal in central London heard Miss Grey started working for the luxury clothes brand store in London in November 2015 as a sales associate stylist and worked 16 hours a week. In June 2019, Nathan Rickerby became the store manager.

Miss Grey was off sick from August and was issued with an unauthorised absence letter by bosses in September after failing to follow the return to work procedure.

The panel found their relationship had become ‘fraught and freighted with mutual distrust’, as Mr Rickerby became frustrated with her being absent, AWOL or late, while she felt ‘singled out’.

In November 2019, Mr Rickerby called Miss Grey into his office to complete an online training course. When she was unable to log in and the pair waited for help from the IT desk, he asked her about her ‘night out’ the evening before.

The tribunal found he then said: ‘Oh look at that Rikki Grey EU, you’re the European Union aren’t you, being mixed race and all.

‘You’re the United Nations – you’re the United Colours of Benetton.’

Later giving evidence in a grievance investigation, Miss Grey said Mr Rickerby had ‘obviously’ been referring to her mother being Jamaican and said the racial abuse had been ‘scary’.

He denied making the comments, but the panel found he had made them. Giving evidence at the tribunal he admitted ‘UN’ had ‘racial connotations’.

The panel concluded it ‘implausible’ for him not to have known about United Colours of Benetton – a well-known high street fashion brand – as also having ‘racial connotations’.

The tribunal heard she had been ‘one of the best sales performers in his team’.

After failing to attend work in December 2019, Miss Grey was invited to an investigation meeting in January – which was changed to a grievance meeting by HR after raising the ‘discrimination’ she claimed she had been subject to.

However, as a result of ‘stress-related to work’ and bereavement later in the year, Miss Grey was off-work until July 2020.

In August 2020, Miss Grey formally submitted a grievance about the racial abuse the previous November and was placed on paid-leave while the investigation was ongoing.

In a meeting later that month during an internal grievance process, Miss Grey said she had been ‘traumatised’ by the incident and had ‘made me see the world in a different way’.

She added: ‘This world is not a nice place when you’re dealt with in a certain way because of the colour of your skin.’

The Italian fashion brand The United Colors of Benetton was known in the 1980s for it’s multi-racial advertising campaigns 

In September, her grievance was not upheld internally as her claims had been ‘unsubstantiated in the absence of any corroborative evidence’. Her appeal was also dismissed.

She has been signed off work since January 2022 due to ‘work-related stress’, it was heard.

At the tribunal she made a series of claims of race discrimination which were dismissed. However, the tribunal found Mr Rickerby’s comments were racial harassment.

After hearing Mr Rickerby refer to a ‘mix of colours’ to refer to mixed heritage, Employment Judge David Khan said: ‘We conclude that Mr Rickerby was capable of using language in relation to race which was not only clumsy and careless but offensive.

‘The language that we have found Mr Rickerby used was patently related to [Miss Grey]’s mixed heritage.

‘Because of the nature of this language, we conclude that it had the purpose of creating the environment and of violating her dignity.

‘We find that it is likely that the impugned conduct we have upheld contributed to her extended period of absence in 2020.

‘We find that the language used by Mr Rickerby was sufficiently grievous to create the proscribed effect objectively.

‘We also take account of the fact that Mr Rickerby was not another colleague or peer of [Miss Grey]’s but was the store manager and in a position of power and authority over her.’

A remedy hearing to decide her compensation will take place at a later date.

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