Worker sacked for mocking Irish accent wins unfair dismissal claim

An engineering storeman has been awarded more than £16,000 after an employment tribunal ruled he was unfairly dismissed for greeting a colleague with the phrase “top of the morning to ya” in a mock Irish accent.

Karl Davies, then 57, made the remark while listening to Irish music at the Oscar Mayer ready-meal plant in Wrexham on August 13, 2024. He directed the greeting towards manager Scott Millward, who was escorting a red-haired external auditor at the time.

Mr Millward complained to the company, claiming the phrase could amount to racial harassment, and Davies was later dismissed following an internal investigation.

However, the tribunal at Mold Employment Tribunal found that while the remark was “mocking” and “reprehensible,” it was not racially motivated and did not amount to harassment. Judge Vincent Ryan said Davies was “channelling the musical vibe” of what he was listening to, rather than targeting anyone’s ethnicity.

The judge criticised the company’s disciplinary process as “flawed,” saying the chosen investigator had a conflict of interest and that the probe was “based largely on assumptions.”

Davies, who had worked for Oscar Mayer for 27 years with a clean record, was awarded compensation for unfair dismissal.

Judge Ryan said:

“The claimant was accused of using a racially motivated slur — a serious allegation — but the facts did not support it. This ruling does not condone the use of mock accents, but the dismissal was unfair on the facts of this case.”