A black NHS midwife has successfully filed a lawsuit against her employer for racial discrimination after her colleagues “joked” they should “check their bags” on her last day at work. Olukemi Akinmeji claims she has faced a “toxic” work environment and has been mistreated due to her skin colour, an employment tribunal heard. After leaving her job at William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, Kent, she took her former employers, East Kent Hospitals University NHS Trust, to court – alleging racial discrimination and victimisation.
The midwife started working at the hospital in March 2018 and handed in her notice in December 2019, without giving any explanation.
On her last day on January 25, 2020, shift coordinator Kathy Carr allegedly told staff: “It’s Kemi’s last day. Everyone, check your bags.”
Ms Carr later realised how “inappropriate” it was to make these comments “in front of colleagues” and claimed it was a “joke in bad taste”, the court heard.
She also claimed that she intended to say something “light-hearted” but was embarrassed because she had just learnt that Ms Akinmeji was leaving.
In court, Ms Akinmeji said being “portrayed” as a “thief” in front of coworkers, patients and relatives did not strike her as “funny”.
Ms Carr claimed she thought a banner she had previously put up in the changing area in response to thefts served as the “trigger” for the statement.
In an exit statement, Mr Akinmeji called on the Trust to act “appropriately” against racism and filed a formal complaint against Ms Carr for the embarrassment caused by her “false and baseless spiteful remark”.
She added: “The fact that [Kathy] Carr acts freely in such a manner goes without saying how she treats ethnic minorities.”
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