Plan B Forum

A Jamaican-born lollipop man who was sacked for calling a black colleague 'King Kong' during a row over a parking meter has questioned how he can be a racist at an employment tribunal.



Jon Seymour, 46, claims he was unfairly dismissed following a row with a council official in which he allegedly used 'threatening, racist and abusive' behaviour at Camden Town Hall in London. But now Mr Seymour, who has worked as a lollipop man in Kentish Town for 20 years, is seeking thousands of pounds in compensation saying he was not being overly aggressive. The Central London Employment Tribunal heard the incident in July 2013 erupted after Mr Seymour was speaking loudly on his phone in the town hall's reception area ahead of a meeting. He claimed he had been trying to arrange a refund because a parking meter had swallowed £4 of his change when council worker Johnson Akinmoyede 'interrupted his conversation'.

The court heard that when Mr Akinmoyede asked him to keep his voice down, Mr Seymour replied: 'Who are you, King Kong? I will break you, move away from me,' reports the Evening Standard. Mr Seymour, from Kentish Town in north London, was escorted from the building by two security officers for the alleged 'racially abusive and threatening behaviour'. However, he claims the term 'King Kong' was not racist and in a statement by Christopher Nicola, manager of the council's Smarter Travel Team, it was a 'Caribbean thing'. 'He [Mr Seymour] asked how could it be racially abusive if you say something to someone of the same complexion, and that the way they were speaking was a Caribbean thing and they talk like that to each other all the time and that he did not mean any offence,' said Mr Nicola.

Speaking at the time, Mr Seymour said: 'It was not racial. He was getting all angry so it was like he was acting like he was a big strong gorilla, so that's why I called him King Kong. 'My mum is black, I'm black. It is not being racist. It was nothing to do with his colour. No one looks like King Kong.' Amjad Khan, a security guard who witnessed the incident, told the court Mr Akinmoyede had also been 'intimidating' and 'inappropriate', but admitted Mr Seymour's behaviour was also unacceptable. He said both men apologised to each other after the row and shook hands on the steps of the town hall.

The council's head of transport strategy, Louise McBride, who chaired last year's disciplinary meeting which dismissed him, said CCTV footage showed his behaviour was 'aggressive physically'. However, Judge David Pearl, who was shown the CCTV disagreed his body language was aggressive saying 'the claimant does nothing [physically] aggressive here.' Speaking outside the court today, Mr Seymour, who was born in London but of Trinidadian heritage, told the Standard: 'It's made my life hell and until now I have never been unemployed in my life. 'It was about being part of the community and helping all the mums and children, that's what I used to love, and that has been taken away.

'The best result would be getting back the job that I love and to feel part of the community again. I just want to serve the people and community I love.' The paper reports that Mr Seymour was also said to be in breach of the council's code of conduct for giving an interview to a local newspaper after his immediate suspension. The hearing continues

Jon Seymour, 46, claims he was unfairly dismissed following a row with a council official in which he allegedly used 'threatening, racist and abusive' behaviour at Camden Town Hall in London. But now Mr Seymour, who has worked as a lollipop man in Kentish Town for 20 years, is seeking thousands of pounds in compensation saying he was not being overly aggressive. The Central London Employment Tribunal heard the incident in July 2013 erupted after Mr Seymour was speaking loudly on his phone in the town hall's reception area ahead of a meeting. He claimed he had been trying to arrange a refund because a parking meter had swallowed £4 of his change when council worker Johnson Akinmoyede 'interrupted his conversation'.

The court heard that when Mr Akinmoyede asked him to keep his voice down, Mr Seymour replied: 'Who are you, King Kong? I will break you, move away from me,' reports the Evening Standard. Mr Seymour, from Kentish Town in north London, was escorted from the building by two security officers for the alleged 'racially abusive and threatening behaviour'.

Gob wrote:If I call a Welsh woman a dragon, is that racist?

MajGenl.Meade wrote:.

If you were asking me, then I'd say it's not racism - probably just observation.

Gob wrote:

MajGenl.Meade wrote:.

If you were asking me, then I'd say it's not racism - probably just observation.

I await R-B reading that post with glee.

MajGenl.Meade wrote:pendant!

Gob wrote:If I call a Welsh woman a dragon, is that racist?

wesw wrote:so....

if i see a black guy, wearing a Lone Ranger mask, catching crayfish in a stream, i shouldn t say that he reminds me of a 'coon?

Crayfish are mmmmmm mmmmmmm good