When an NHS manager innocently used the phrase ‘cracking the whip’ during a meeting, she had no idea it would trigger legal proceedings that would end up costing her employer and the taxpayer thousands of pounds.
But a nurse who heard the expression which has its roots in farming was horrified, believing it to have ‘connotations of slavery’.
The incident occurred in 2017, but nurse Vivienne Okoh didn’t resign until two years later. Ms Okoh, who is black, sued North East London Foundation Trust claiming she had been a victim of racial discrimination, harassment and victimisation by manager Caroline Ward.
The texting van driverWhen a middle-aged van driver texted a younger female colleague to call her a “f ing ugly bent tooth pikey”, nobody expected him to be the one claiming sexism.The ordeal of