Armenian HMRC worker accused by boss of 'trying to kill Russians' wins £16,000 payout

A woman who was accused of 'trying to kill Russians' has won £16,000 compensation in a race discrimination case.The Armenian HMRC trainee, known only as Ms X, began working at the company in January 2019. She completed her probation before leaving in January 2020 – and then returning in July 2022, when Damian Robson became her line manager.The asylum seeker, who became a British citizen shortly after 2004, had changed her surname in 2019 while previously working for HMRC, as it was 'very distinctive' and 'identified her as an Armenian from Abkhazia'.She had previously suffered a 'violent attack' – with an employment tribunal hearing the culture of her home country meant it is not uncommon for people 'to intimidate the woman into compliance, where a woman does not behave as expected', such as when she is unmarried or leaves home. But when Ms X re-joined HMRC she saw her old surname was visible for all 65,000 HMRC employees on its computer system.Ms X sent an email to Mr Robson to bring this to his attention – but he approached her in the open plan office to 'question her extensively' in 'a disturbing and an unnecessary manner'.The trainee, who speaks fluent English but talks with a Russian accent, described feeling apprehensive because of the lack of privacy – though she still attempted to explain her concerns fully. The Armenian HMRC trainee, known only as Ms X, began working at the company in January 2019 (file image of HMRC building)However, Mr Robson dismissed them, 'explained that he had 29 years' experience in law enforcement, and he could 'not understand' and then 'took no action' to help her.Ms X 'remained very concerned' but approached HR herself and her old name was removed a month later.On August 18, trainees were all added to an online call as it was announced which department they would go to for the next two years.It was said these were 'randomly selected', leading Ms X to question how the random selection was controlled.She and another trainee were unhappy with their assignments so asked if they were able to swap, but Mr Robson said the request was 'perplexing' and denied the request in a 'patronising' manner.Ms X and Mr Robson were both part of a scheduled video call the next day, on August 19, and after the call the manager asked her to stay so they could discuss allocation.During the meeting, Ms X expressed a preference to work in Customs & International Trade.She said 'her background in research and analysis would be better suited to that area,' and also that her experience of Russian language and culture might prove useful.They spoke for almost an hour and Mr Robson took notes without Ms X's knowledge, which he later compiled into 91 paragraphs of meeting minutes.The six-page document described how Ms X had insisted she be put into Customs & International Trade because she 'could get back at Russia for killing my family'.Mr Robson sent the notes to the trainee ten days after their meeting while she was on holiday and she replied they were 'not an accurate reflection' of what was said.However he used the made-up quote to bring disciplinary action against Ms X, and on September 1, 2022, an investigation was started into her conduct.A manager was appointed to investigate, though he had never done so before.Despite having no medical training, the manager used Ms X's concerns for her own safety as reason to claim she was 'medically paranoid'.He then ignored Ms X's evidence and said Mr Robson would have no motive to make anything up about her.He 'drew a negative inference' about Ms X because she called Mr Robson a 'liar', and tried to upgrade the investigation against her to say she had committed gross misconduct, which was denied.He found the accusation regarding 'getting back at Russians' proven just because Russian had been mentioned during the meeting.Ms X was issued a first written warning.She appealed the decision but a second manager who had no experience in the role was appointed the appeal manager.This manager 'conducted an extremely cursory review', and even substantiated a completely incorrect allegation that Ms X 'had stated that she would use her position to kill Russians'.The appeal was not upheld, so Ms X took HMRC to an employment tribunal in Edinburgh.There, Employment Judge Melanie Sangster concluded that she was the victim of direct and indirect race discrimination.EJ Sangster said: 'If [Ms X] had stated, as [Mr Robson] indicated, that she wished to use her position within [HMRC] to 'get back at the Russians for killing her family', the Tribunal concluded that the response from [Mr Robson] would not have been that he would simply 'leave that comment to one side' and move on.'He would, at very least, have expressed shock at the statement and told [Ms X] that what she had stated was entirely inappropriate.'It was found Mr Robson had falsely accused Ms X of misconduct because of her race.The judge continued: 'The Tribunal concluded that the other comments, which [Mr Robson] stated [Ms X] said to him in his one–to–one meeting with her on August 19 2022, were not in fact said.'The Tribunal accordingly concluded that the alleged treatment occurred: [Mr Robson] did falsely accuse [Ms X] of misconduct.'The Tribunal accordingly finds that, in falsely accusing [Ms X] of misconduct, [HMRC] treated [her] less favourably because of race.'HMRC has now been ordered to pay Ms X, who continues to work there, £16,506.95 for injury to feelings.Further claims of harassment related to race were dismissed.