A BLACK worker who sued her firm for racist discrimination after colleagues asked about her name, hair and food has been told by an employment judge they were showing 'genuine interest' in her.

Gifty Robinson, who describes herself as black and is of Canadian and Ghanaian heritage, launched the action against Hatfield Peverel based Smile Publications. 

Court documents reveal Ms Robinson alleged she was the victim of a series of "humiliating" incidents while she worked for the firm. 

This included her boss asking her whether Gifty was her real name, whether she ate food with a fork or her fingers, and whether she wore a wig. 

Ms Robinson also claimed a line-manager asked her insensitive questions about a GP appointment, unlike a white colleague.

She claimed one employee expressing “it’s too dark in here” after walking into a room in October 2022 was a racial reference.

However, a tribunal has now found this was an “innocent comment” and taken as a personal reference by the claimant.

The tribunal also dismissed Ms Robinson suggestions she was hired as a token black employee saying it made “no sense”.

The court found Ms Robinson's allegation about comments colleagues made about her eating using cutlery or her fingers was “distorted”.  

Documents also revealed Ms Robinson was surprised that the judge knew that Twi is the language of Ghana and knew about jollof.

The tribunal said: “It is not racist to express interest in the derivation of someone’s name, whatever their race, and there is no suggestion that this was done in an offensive manner.

“The claimant simply objects in principle to being asked about her name, it being, she says, one of the 50 things the Google list says that a white person must not ask a black person.”

It added: "What occurred in the workplace was no more than genuine interest in someone else’s life and culture, in the context of a warm working relationship."

The claimant received pay in lieu of notice and so the claim was dismissed.