An investigation has been launched by major companies Legal & General and Mitie after a young black woman tape-recorded colleagues making appalling racist comments behind her back.
The workmates were heard saying ‘black people have a smell about them’ and ‘don’t wash their hair’.
The two women were talking as their victim had gone to the toilet, unaware that she had left her phone on record and was secretly taping them.
An investigation has been launched by major companies Legal & General and Mitie after a young black woman tape-recorded colleagues making racist comments
The woman, an IT graduate who said she quit her ‘toxic’ job two days ago, said on Twitter that she had experienced racism and bullying on ‘multiple occasions’ before resigning on Monday.
On January 6, she had tweeted: ‘No workplace should ruin your mental health’.
Posting an excerpt from the shocking tape on Twitter, she said: ‘I didn’t want to have to bring this to Twitter.
‘However I felt there was no other way to show everyone the racists and bullies @landg_group employ to represent them. I felt forced to quit my job with them today after I experienced racism and bullying on multiple occasions.’
In the minute-long section of the tape she posted, two unidentified women, A and B, can be heard in conversation about her:
‘A: …and she has a smell about her, like a fried, oiled smell. Is it just me? It stresses me out.
B: It is a strong smell. I don’t know if it’s oil or what.
A: Maybe it’s lotion
B: It could be cocoa butter
A: Black people have a smell about them
B: Maybe it’s cocoa butter
A…Mixed with something. Hair gel or something
B: Maybe, yes.
A: You know, some people smell clean and fresh – and some others …..
B: You know black people, they don’t wash their hair.’
At one point, one of the woman adds, ‘she’s not here, though, she’s in the toilet.’
Legal & General immediately launched an investigation following the Tweets and later announced that the two people concerned were employed by Mitie
The tweet went viral, and the woman was praised for having the courage to quit her job and offered advice by other Twitter users on taking legal action for constructive dismissal.
Legal & General immediately launched an investigation following the Tweets and later announced that the two people concerned were employed by Mitie, who began their own inquiry.
Legal & General tweeted in response to the original tweet: ‘We are upset & saddened to hear about your experience. The allegations are appalling & are not reflective of us or our culture.
‘We have an internal investigation underway to identify all individuals concerned & we will do all we can to make sure this doesn’t happen again.’
Today they added: ‘We are committed to being an inclusive business and are taking the recent incident very seriously. We have investigated overnight & established that those concerned are contractors employed by @Mitie who are investigating these allegations thoroughly.
‘Most importantly, we have been assured Mitie are in touch with the person impacted to ensure that they are listened to, heard and supported. We can confirm these individuals are not currently working at our offices.
‘We have a zero-tolerance approach to bullying, racism and racial discrimination. While the allegation has been raised by an employee of a third party, we expect the same standards of behaviour from them as we would our own employees.’
Mitie told MailOnline in a statement: ‘As a business that is committed to ensuring a company culture where every colleague can bring their true self to work, we were very concerned to hear about this incident. There is no place for racism, bullying or discrimination in our business. An investigation into this incident is already underway.’
MailOnline has contacted the woman who posted the Tweets.
Legal & General added in a statement: ‘We have investigated this issue and can confirm the person making the complaint was not an L&G employee but a temporary contractor employed by Mitie.
‘Mitie provide outsourced reception and concierge services to L&G. The two individuals against whom the allegations were made are also Mitie employees.
‘Mitie are now conducting a full internal investigation. We are in close contact with Mitie during the process and we have made it very clear that we expect all our contractors to operate to the standards we expect of our own employees.’