A black delivery driver is suing Greggs for racism after a colleague ‘compared working for them to slavery’ and and he was ‘told to pay for coffee while white staff got it for free’.
Louis Richardson-Cuffe claims he was repeatedly harassed whilst working for the popular bakery chain and was discriminated against by a colleague who said ‘working for Greggs is like black people in slavery’.
Another claim was that the driver was treated differently from other drivers. He was denied free coffee for making deliveries, while white coworkers were.
He is taking Greggs to an employment tribunal, which will decide whether they are guilty of racial discrimination or harassment, and a full hearing will be held in May.
Greggs is being sued by a black driver for delivery. His colleague had ‘compared working for them with slavery.’ He was then told he would have to pay coffee for his colleagues, while the white employees got it free. (file image).
At a Bury St Edmunds hearing, Mr Richardson-Cuffe presented his case, which was denied by the bakery.
Greggs claimed that Greggs had quickly certified white drivers, despite the fact they were involved in an accident.
Although he is entitled to complimentary coffee in Ipswich, the driver claims that on one occasion he was denied free coffee.
Richardson-Cuffe claims that white drivers received free coffee, but he wasn’t. He says he was told to go buy coffee elsewhere or pay the price.
After he complained to the police about the coffee incident, it was claimed that he was ordered to go home.
He also claimed that a driver had verbally assaulted him in autumn 2019 and told him ‘they had got to rid of all of them’.
The tribunal heard Mr Richardson-Cuffe say that he believes the fellow meant that he wanted to rid black people.
At the hearing, it was revealed that in January 2020 another driver had said to him that working for Greggs was like slavery for black people.
Two weeks later, Richardson-Cuffe lost his job for gross misconduct. He claims that he was fired because of his race.
Another driver claimed he was treated differently than other drivers. He was not given free coffee for making a delivery, while white coworkers were.
Additionally, he stated that he was called an ‘asshole’ during the subsequent review hearing. This comment he believes to be racially and malicious.
According to him, an Employee Performance Log was manipulated to his demise.
Greggs’ legal counsel noted that there were ‘extremely broad allegations against more than 20 colleagues’. They also stated: “They all worked at different places, so it’s highly unlikely they were acting in discriminatory ways towards each other.” [Mr Richardson-Cuffe].’
Other allegations made by the driver at the initial stage were dropped because they did not have any reasonable chance of being successful.
In May, a full hearing will take place regarding Mr Richardson-Cuffe’s claims.