Home / Comments on Someone’s Accent Could Amount to Harassment
18th December 2024
Lauren Ogden, Associate
In the case of Carozzi v University of Hertfordshire 2024, the Employment Appeals Tribunal have decided that comments about an employee’s accent could amount to harassment under the Equality Act 2010.
Ms Carozzi was employed by the University of Hertfordshire on a six-month probationary period. Following two extensions of her probationary period, she decided to resign.
She pursued claims in the Employment Tribunal against the University and her line manager for harassment on the grounds of her Brazilian nationality and Jewish ethnic origin, as well as victimisation.
The harassment claim was in respect of comments that her line manager had made about her accent being difficult to understand and the victimisation claim related to the HR manager refusing to provide Ms Carozzi with meeting notes because she might use them against the University in a discrimination claim.
Harassment is defined under the Equality Act 2010 as unwanted conduct related to a relevant protected characteristic which has the purpose or effect of violating the employee’s dignity, or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for the employee.
Victimisation occurs where a person subjects another person to a detriment because they have done a protected act or they believe that person has done or might do a protected act. Protected acts include bringing proceedings under the Equality Act 2010.
Ms Carozzi was unsuccessful in both of her claims. The tribunal decided that the alleged harassment in respect of the comments about her accent did not relate to her Brazilian nationality. The tribunal focused on the need for there to be a “mental element” for the harassment claim and that as the comments were not motivated by race, this element was not present.
The victimisation claim was unsuccessful because the tribunal decided that the HR manager would have withheld meeting notes from any employee who planned to bring a tribunal claim, not just those bringing a claim for discrimination.
On appeal, the Employment Appeals Tribunal decided that the tribunal was wrong to decide that the comments about Ms Carozzi’s accent did not amount to harassment. There is no requirement for there to be a “mental element” in determining if conduct is related to” a protected characteristic for harassment. The EAT commented that an accent can be an important part of a person’s national or ethnic identity and comments about a person’s accent could therefore be related to the protected characteristic of race. The appeal was upheld.
The EAT also upheld the Claimant’s appeal in respect of the victimisation claim. The tribunal should have considered whether the decision not to provide the meetings notes was because Ms Carozzi had made or might make a complaint about unlawful discrimination. The EAT also decided that the tribunal incorrectly applied the test for detrimental treatment as they should have considered whether Ms Carozzi might reasonably have considered herself disadvantaged in the workplace because the HR manager withheld the meeting notes.
The case has now been passed back to the Employment Tribunal with a new Judge and panel to rehear the claims of victimisation and harassment. The tribunal will need to decide whether on the evidence, the University’s conduct amounted to harassment and victimisation.
This case confirms that conduct can be related to a protected characteristic where, regardless of the motivations of the harasser, there is some relationship between the conduct or language used and the protected characteristic. In this case, the comments about the Claimant’s accent might not have been motivated by her race but there was a relationship between the comments and her race.
It is important for employers (and their employees) to be aware that conduct can amount to unlawful harassment even if the alleged harasser was not motivated by the protected characteristic. If there is a connection between the conduct and a protected characteristic, this can be enough for there to be unlawful harassment.
Employers should ensure that they provide regular equality and diversity training to their employees as well as having clear policies and procedures which set the standard of behaviour expected in the workplace. There should also be clear reporting procedures in place to allow employees to raise concerns.
If you would like any more information, please get in touch with our employment team on 0161 832 3434.