Pictured: Racism awareness trainer who complained after dyslexic Lloyds Bank ... trends now
This is the racism awareness trainer left 'badly distressed' and needing a week off work after someone on one of her sessions used the N-word.
Single mother-of-two Naomi Osei, whose coaching profile says 'has faced many defeats but not been defeated', was stunned when the term was raised.
It happened when father-of-two Carl Borg-Neal, 59, from Andover, Hampshire, raised a question during a Lloyds Bank race education training session in 2021, but in doing so inadvertently used the word in full himself. He apologised immediately.
People in the training session described how Ms Osei told Mr Borg-Neal off and threatened to expel him from the course.
He this week won a £490,000 payout after he was unfairly sacked for asking about the N-word.
The former mayor and councillor blamed dyslexia and successfully claimed disability discrimination.
This week, he was awarded almost £500,000 in damages. Added to Lloyds's legal costs and tax, the bank has a bill of nearly £1million.
Trainer Ms Osei herself did not support Lloyd's HR investigation and she was not involved in the probe.
Mr Borg-Neal's words left trainer Naomi Osei (pictured) apparently so 'badly distressed' that she took a week off work
Lloyds Bank sacked him for his comment but Mr Borg-Neal was awarded £490,000 this week after an employment tribunal ruled he was unfairly dismissed
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Mr Borg-Neal said: 'It wasn't about the money at all. I'm on tablets for blood pressure.
'The stress causes an overactive bladder. I have tablets for my stomach. When I get anxious my twitch comes back.
'I have done nothing wrong. I'm quite a strong character but I have really struggled.'
Describing the training session during which the disagreement occurred, Mr Borg-Neal said he felt it was all about trying to 'guilt trip' people.
Addressing the trainer Naomi Osei, he said: 'I'm sorry that I upset you but don't you think your reaction was not totally professional?
'And surely you could have dealt with it in a more professional way?
Mr Borg-Neal felt his own dyslexia had been ignored during the process, adding: 'Big companies don't understand it and Lloyds definitely didn't.'
The tribunal heard that on July 16, 2021, Mr Borg-Neal attended one of a number of online MS Teams training sessions organised by his bosses Lloyds Bank for its line managers.
At one point, Mr Borg-Neal asked how he should handle a situation where he heard someone from an ethnic minority use a word that might be considered offensive.
The panel wrote: 'The claimant was thinking partly about rap music. When he did not get an immediate response from the trainer, he added: "The most common example being use of the N word in the black community."
'Unfortunately the claimant used the full word rather than the abbreviation.
'The Bank accepted that the claimant did not intend to cause any hurt, that he asked the question with no malice, and that the question itself was valid.
'However, [Lloyds] considered that the claimant should have known better than to use the full word in a professional environment and he should have realised that it could have serious impact, which in fact it did.
Carl Borg-Neal, 59, (pictured) raised the question during a Lloyds Bank race education training session, but in doing so inadvertently used the word in full himself
'Although the claimant had apologised immediately and not repeated the word, the Bank was told that [Ms Osei] had been off work for four to five days as a result. The Bank dismissed the claimant for these reasons.'
The payout is the culmination of a two-year battle
