A train driver has been awarded £3,000 in compensation after working with a colleague who had Nazi tattoos.
Dion De Leon spotted Bryan Siequien’s swastika and German Iron Eagle tattoos on his leg and proceeded to challenge him, the Daily Mail reports.
But after reporting this to bosses, De Leon claimed he was labelled ‘the wrongdoer rather than the victim’ and then investigated for allegedly calling a friend of Siequien a ‘white supremacist’.
De Leon compared his treatment during the disciplinary process as ‘mental torture’ and alleged that it damaged his health.
Siequien had the swastika blacked out after De Leon’s complaint, but he was still awarded £3,000 for ‘injury to feelings’ after his claim of ‘harassment related to race’ was successful.
A panel of judges at East London Hearing Centre concluded:
Although the swastika tattoo was visibly present to the claimant for a relatively short period of time, we consider that this is a particularly offensive symbol and that all of the connotations which are carried within it should not be diminished.
They added that despite the nature of his tattoos, it didn’t mean he held extreme views.
