The Newcastle University employee blamed auto-correct for changing a colleague’s name to ‘hash brown’ (Picture: ncjMedia Ltd)

A university admin worker was sacked for using racist language after sending an email to a colleague calling them ‘hash brown’.

Ollie de Planta de Wildenberg, 28, was dismissed after just four days working full-time at Newcastle University for using the ‘perceived offensive, racial language’.

But the people services administrator ‘strenuously denies’ he sent the term deliberately, insisting the name of his female co-worker had autocorrected to ‘Hash brown’ on Outlook.

Mr de Planta de Wildenberg says he was oblivious to the ‘typing error’ until he was spoken to by his line manager the following morning, on September 26.


He was shown the door later that day after university bosses were unable to replicate the mistake.

Ollie de Planta de Wildenberg was dismissed after university bosses were unable to replicate the ‘error’ (Picture: ncjMedia Ltd)

Mr de Planta de Wildenberg, who lives with his parents in Gosforth, said: ‘When I was told, I just thought “oh my days”.



‘I had not met or spoken to this woman before so I had no reason to call her a name.

‘It was an informal meeting and he was laughing about it. He just told me to be more careful in the future and I thought that was the end of it.’

He added: ‘Hash brown is not a racist term. It is a breakfast item.

‘It is a bit weird thing to call someone that intentionally. Why would I do it? To class it as gross misconduct is just unbelievable. I didn’t realise initially just how serious they were taking it.

‘The sanction bears no resemblance to what happened. I strenuously deny that this message had been sent deliberately. It was a typing error. There is nothing to suggest this is racist.’

Mr de Planta de Wildenberg was an agency worker for five months before being taken on as a full-time member of staff just days before the incident.

At his appeal hearing on October 25, Ollie was shown an email from the co-worker which he says ‘made light’ out of the incident.

But the decision was upheld, with the university stating in a letter: ‘I believe that in the balance of probability that you did type the words in question and that the words were perceived as offensive and involving racial language.’

Mr de Planta de Wildenberg now takes on odd jobs working as a kitchen porter, waiter and barman to make ends meet following his dismissal.

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‘I’m just doing anything I can at the moment,’ he said.

‘It’s terrible to think I’m now peeling potatoes on the back of this instead of progressing my career.

‘If I had done something worthy of being sacked then fair enough. But no-one I have spoke to about this is in agreement with the university.

‘No-one wants to see racism or prejudice in the workplace. Accidentally calling someone a hash brown is not racist.

‘I was speechless when I was told I was sacked. How can someone perceive it as racism?’

A Newcastle University spokesperson said: ‘We can confirm Oliver de Planta de Wildenberg is no longer employed by Newcastle University.’

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