A black woman was found to have been racially harassed when the n-word was used during a staff training course on diversity.

Theresa Georges had been working as a cleaner for the Newport-based association Pobl Group Ltd for only two months when she was asked to attend an equality and diversity training course with 15 others on March 8, 2018.

During the session Lisa Hearn, a trainer for eight years, raised the question: “What are discriminatory words?”, explaining that words might be acceptable to some people but not to others.

When staff were given examples of unacceptable words including the n-word it upset Ms Georges who was the only black person in the room.

On a flipchart Miss Hearn wrote “n*****” and “p***” and when the delegates were asked to shout out the most offensive words they could think of the “n” word was shouted three times.

Miss Hearn acknowledged that the exercise could be uncomfortable but Ms Georges was so upset she left the building at lunchtime and did not return.

In a letter of complaint to the human resources department she said Miss Hearn was so blasé that she said the words as if they were not even offensive.

“She seemed to fixate on the n and p words in my opinion,” she wrote.

“She mentioned the p word again, giving an example of a racist comment and connotation ‘I am going to the p*** shop, and something about black people carrying knives’.”

She said hearing the “n” word being shouted three times disgusted her and when it came to her turn she felt the others were expecting her to say the word as the most offensive to her, but instead she “refused to degrade herself”.

She was signed off sick with stress and her complaint was subsequently rejected by senior HR business partner Ben Hurrell.

He found that by discussing the language in a very controlled environment – the training room – it would achieve its intention, but he nevertheless recommended that the message be delivered in a different way in future.

An employment tribunal was held in March and the panel upheld Ms Georges' claim for racial harassment.

But while the underlying purpose of the training was said to be “entirely appropriate” the method of delivery was described as “a risky strategy”.

“We find that their encouragement to say words that were deeply offensive was a crude and unnecessary way of delivering the training in circumstances where some other more sensitive means of delivering the message could have been employed,” said the panel.

It was also found that there was no explicit rationale why the “n” and “p” words were written on the flipchart to start the ball rolling.

The judgment continued: “We accept that the use of the full ‘n’ word by the trainer and the three others in the training course had the effect of creating a degrading and offensive environment for the claimant and of violating her dignity.

“The ‘n’ word is by its very nature a deeply loaded and offensive word with distressing racial connotations which, we find, would necessarily have caused the claimant to be deeply offended and uncomfortable.

“The respondent had warned delegates that the words could not be used under any circumstances but was prepared to allow its employees to be ‘trigger happy’ with discriminatory words in a group context.”

Another hearing will now be held to consider compensation for Ms Georges.