A Croatian man who suffered racial abuse at the hands of his supervisor has won a discrimination claim at an industrial tribunal and been awarded £53,596 in compensation.
Nenad Zubin, 41, who has been a resident in Northern Ireland for over 20 years, was employed by Brett Martin, a polycarbon sheeting company located in Mallusk.
In 2007 he was fired for alleged misconduct but made a compensation claim against the company on the grounds of racial discrimination.
According to the tribunal’s decision, the company was at fault for ignoring the harassment he was subjected to.
At one point, Mr Zuban, who was a process operator at the factory, was told that “the Serbs were just right to rape your women and children”.
On 30 October 2007, Mr Zuban was apparently found by his supervisor lying on the floor close to his machine during a night shift.
He was eventually dismissed for sleeping on the job but he was adamant that he was the victim of a vendetta by the supervisor who discovered him.
Evidence given to the tribunal showed that the supervisor in question racially abused Mr Zuban, scrapping his work, and scribbling out his name on time-sheets.
Witnesses corroborated the evidence provided by Mr Zuban that the supervisor regularly made disparaging remarks about the victim and his home country.
The comments included “The Serbs were just right to rape your women and children” and “See that Croatian fella, he left his wife and 18 kids and came here on the back of a lorry”.
The tribunal said the fact that the supervisor had gone unpunished for making such comments was “shocking” and found the company liable for his behaviour.
