A former Royal Mail employee has been awarded compensation after winning his race discrimination claim.

Abdul Musa first complained about racist behaviour by his co-workers in 2006. The Royal Mail investigated the complaint and one of its employees at its depot in Blackburn was dismissed.

However, the problems continued. Other employees at the depot, who were angered by their colleague’s dismissal, refused to speak to Mr Musa.

The Royal Mail investigated the situation and several employees were disciplined. However, it then dismissed Mr Musa in 2007 because it felt he was a ‘problem’.

Mr Musa took the case to an Employment Tribunal in Manchester and had support from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

The Tribunal ruled that Mr Musa had been discriminated against and he was awarded an undisclosed sum in compensation.

John Wadham, spokesman for the EHRC, said: “The Equality Act protects people from being victimised for making complaints about any form of discrimination in the workplace. It also says employers have a responsibility to take complaints seriously and to put a stop to discrimination.”

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “There is no room in Royal Mail for racism or any other form of discrimination. We are committed to investigating any complaint of discrimination fairly and thoroughly.”

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