Judge reinstates worker accused of 'white racist' slur
In a ground-breaking judgment, the Labour Appeal Court found calling someone a ‘white racist’ does not, in itself, constitute racism, reports The Star.
The court ordered Namaqua Wines to reinstate Vuyani Qomoyi, finding his dismissal in 2021 for allegedly ‘displaying racist behaviour’ was substantively unfair.
This is after the Commercial Stevedoring, Agricultural and Allied Workers Union, acting on behalf of Qomoyi, appealed the Labour Court judgment which had confirmed his dismissal Qomoyi, a shop steward, was fired because he had referred to his superior, a Mr Meyer, as a white racist.
‘Being referred to by one’s racial classification cannot on its own amount to racist tendencies,’ Acting Judge GN Moshoana remarked.
Moshoana in his appeal judgment said based on the evidence at arbitration, it can never be said that Qomoyi intended to be racist.
Instead, he was venting his frustration at the manner in which black employees are being dismissed.
The judge said Namaqua should have installed a full-scale investigation into all the allegations around racism instead of charging and dismissing Qomoyi for allegedly displaying racist behaviour.
The judge also noted that allegations of racism were not uncommon to Namaqua.
One of its managers was sent to diversity training for alleged racist behaviour. He concluded the dismissal was unfair and ordered Namaqua to reinstate Qomoyi retrospectively from the date of his dismissal.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
