Pictured: Caul Grant, who was sacked after he drove his van at two youths who threw a doughnut at his head in a racist attack
A black worker who distributed Boris Bikes has been sacked after he drove his van at two youths who threw a doughnut at his head in a racist attack.
Caul Grant, 58, mounted the pavement and drove on the wrong side of the road as he chased those who threw the pastry at him in London, a tribunal heard.
Mr Grant, who was the victim of two racist attacks in a week, was found guilty of gross misconduct after the rental bike distributor’s bosses launched an investigation into his behaviour.
He was later sacked after his relationship with the company soured.
Mr Grant has now lost a race claim against former employers Serco, who run the London Cycle Hire Scheme launched by Boris Johnson.
The tribunal heard that on March 10, 2018, Mr Grant was called a ‘monkey’ by a driver who tailgated him near Waterloo Bridge.
Just a week later, while dropping off bicycles, Mr Grant had a doughnut thrown at the back of his head by two white youths who told him ‘shut up you black c**t’.
Mr Grant, who was ‘extremely offended and totally humiliated’, then got into his van and sped at the youths, even driving on the wrong side of the road and mounting a pavement.
‘I was in a state of total disbelief, I was extremely offended, totally humiliated and deeply hurt,’ he said.
‘I think if they had ran, I would have felt like I still had some dignity but… to just casually walk on, offended me further. That suggested they believed they could do whatever they wanted to me and I could do nothing.
The tribunal heard that on March 10, 2018, Mr Grant was called a ‘monkey’ by a driver who tailgated him near Waterloo Bridge (pictured)
‘In that frame of mind, I got into my vehicle and drove towards my attackers, it was an act of self-defence and it forced them to run.
‘Fortunately, I did not make any contact with them and my vehicle and as they ran away, I came back to my senses.’
Mr Grant later complained Serco did not immediately report it to the police, although it was heard they offered him support and reported it at a later date.
Serco launched an investigation into his driving and Mr Grant was signed off on sick leave with work-related stress for two weeks.
He said: ‘I want the record to show that I am both deeply offended and insulted for having my conduct called into question having reacted to being physically and racially abused in an unprovoked attack.’
Mr Grant was allowed to keep his job despite being found guilty of gross misconduct but his relationship with the firm soured and he was dismissed in February last year.
At the London hearing, he claimed he was unfairly dismissed and racially discriminated against by Serco, where he ‘passionately’ worked with an unblemished record for eight years.
He alleged he was discriminated against after his all-white Serco managers investigated his driving following the racist abuse and ruled it amounted to gross misconduct.
However, a judge ruled Serco had supported him after being racially abused and was justified in deeming his driving so ‘serious’ it amounted to gross misconduct.
Employment Judge Emma Burns dismissed his claims of unfair and wrongful dismissal, victimisation as well as race discrimination and harassment.
Judge Burns said: ‘The positions of the racist youths and [Mr Grant] and their respective relationships to [Serco] were completely different.
‘[Serco] is entitled to lay down rules for its employees and act when those rules are breached. In contrast, [Serco] had no ability to take any action against the racist youths.
‘All of the [Serco’s] witnesses acknowledged the attack and that it provoked the [Mr Grant] to act in a way that was out of character.
‘Nevertheless, they all felt that his consequential behaviour was so serious that it could not be ignored.
‘Our finding is that the [Mr Grant’s] behaviour was so serious that it constituted a fundamental breach of the claimant’s contract. Although the conduct was provoked, this does not reduce the seriousness of the [Mr Grant’s] behaviour.’
Mr Grant said he will be appealing the employment tribunal’s decision to dismiss all his claims.
He said: ‘I find the tribunal’s decision deeply offensive, I cannot begin to understand how it is that a victim of an unprovoked violent racist assault should be accountable for their reaction to such an assault.
‘Whilst there is consideration about what could have happened to the lives of the two white men who assaulted me ‘if’ I had struck them with my vehicle, there is no such consideration what could have happened to my life if the object which they threw and struck me on the back of my head had been a brick.
‘It seems like my black life doesn’t matter. I will be appealing this outrageous decision.’