London: An Indian national has secured nearly £67,000 in compensation after a UK employment tribunal ruled that he was wrongfully dismissed and racially discriminated against by his manager at a KFC franchise outlet in south-east London.
Madhesh Ravichandran, originally from Tamil Nadu, brought the case against Nexus Foods Limited, which operates the West Wickham KFC outlet where he was employed. In evidence presented before the tribunal, Ravichandran said he faced repeated racial abuse from his Sri Lankan Tamil manager, including being called a “slave” and subjected to remarks such as “Indians are fraudsters”.
In a judgment published this week, Employment Tribunal Judge Paul Abbott upheld Ravichandran’s claims, concluding that the allegations of direct race discrimination were well-founded. The tribunal found that Ravichandran was treated less favourably because of his nationality, including the rejection of his holiday requests while similar requests from Sri Lankan Tamil colleagues were prioritised.
The judgment noted that Ravichandran was subjected to racially offensive language, which the tribunal described as conduct that violated his dignity and created a hostile working environment. Ravichandran joined the outlet in January 2023 and reported directly to the restaurant manager, Kajan, following his interview.
Tensions escalated in July 2023 when Ravichandran was allegedly pressured to work excessive hours. The tribunal accepted his account that these persistent demands led him to submit his resignation. During subsequent phone calls, the manager was found to have behaved in a racially abusive and threatening manner.
The tribunal concluded that Ravichandran was summarily dismissed while serving his notice period and was denied his statutory entitlement to one week’s notice pay. It rejected the employer’s argument that there were grounds for dismissal without notice, holding that the termination amounted to wrongful dismissal.
As part of the remedy, Ravichandran was awarded £62,690 in compensation, with additional sums granted for unpaid holiday pay and failure to provide statutory employment particulars. The total award amounts to approximately £66,800.
The tribunal also directed Nexus Foods Limited to introduce a workplace discrimination training programme for all staff, including specific training for managers on handling grievances, to be implemented within six months of the judgment.
