Worker wins in accent tribunal
A CUSTOMER adviser from Northampton, who was dismissed from a job in India because his accent was "not English enough," has won a racial discrimination case against his employer.
Indian-born customer advisor Chetankumar Meshram was sent back to the UK just three weeks into a two-month secondment training staff at communications firm Talk Talk Direct – a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Carphone Warehouse Group – in Delhi.
The 27-year-old masters degree student was told that because he spoke with an Indian accent, he did not meet the company’s requirements to pass on his computer expertise to local workers.
Following an 11-month fight for justice, Mr Meshram has been awarded 5,000 compensation after the firm was found guilty of racial discrimination at an employment tribunal.
Mr Meshram said: “I was called into a meeting with my boss who told me I was going home because my accent wasn’t English enough, and I was to be replaced with a better English speaker.
“I know I speak with an accent but my job out there was to give technical advice, not to give expertise on how to communicate. It was an embarrassing and humiliating experience.”
Mr Meshram, of Kingsley Road, Kingsley, moved to the UK in 2005 and has been speaking English since the age of two.
He is working towards a masters degree in management studies at the University of Northampton and still works for Talk Talk Direct at their office in Greyfriars.
He launched his compensation battle in January with the help of the Northamptonshire Racial Equality Council (NREC) and was awarded the compensation for hurt feelings and expenses incurred during his trip to India.
He said he was delighted the tribunal found in his favour: “I have been through a lot of restlessness and worry over the past 11 months so I’m relieved it is finally over with. I am glad to have been awarded the money but the most important thing is that justice has been done.”
NREC lawyer, Christopher Fray, represented Mr Meshram during the three-day hearing in Bedford.
He said: “Mr Meshram is an extremely friendly, intelligent and efficient worker and it is sad that he has had to endure embarrassment and humiliation purely because he has an Indian accent.
“This case delivers a clear message to the community that preconceived ideas about a person’s intelligence or ability should not be judged by the type of accent with which they speak.”
ed.omara@northantsnews.co.uk
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