A boss who went viral after being ordered to pay more than £23,500 for repeatedly calling an Irish worker a ‘potato’ says he thought it was ‘workplace banter’ but admits he got it ‘badly wrong’.
Mick Atkins, 56, says he has been unable to sleep as his construction firm’s 24-hour hotline was bombarded with calls after a tribunal ruled he racially harassed bookkeeper Bernadette Hayes, and has even been sent death threats.
He was ordered to pay Ms Hayes, who was born in Portadown, Northern Ireland, thousands in compensation after a tribunal ruled he had called her a ‘potato’, ‘Paddy’ and ‘pikey’.
Ms Hayes said the remarks left her feeling ‘small, insecure, violated and extremely anxious’, adding that she came to dread going into work at building contractor West Leeds Civils.
Now Mr Atkins says he wants to publicly apologise for what he had thought was harmless ‘playful banter’ and admitted the case had been a ‘hard lesson to learn’.
He said: ‘I genuinely thought it was workplace banter. I can see now I got that badly wrong.
‘What I thought was messing about was clearly not taken that way, and I am sorry for the distress it caused Bernie.
‘These were comments which I thought were just back-and-forth playful banter with someone I had worked with for two years and whom I considered to be a friend.’
Mr Atkins, a father-of-three from Bradford, West Yorkshire, said he had since been subjected to abusive messages and threats online.
He said: ‘I’ve been getting calls day and night from withheld numbers. I’ve had to delete my social media.
‘One woman screamed down the phone that I should hang my head in shame. Another asked me, “what are you playing at?”
‘There was one Irish guy who said, “Me and the boys are over next week – we’re going to pay you a visit.”
‘They’ve got hold of the company’s 24-hour phone number and have been ringing every ten minutes.
‘Some of the messages have been vile. I’ve had people calling me all sorts and there have been threats made. It’s frightening, to be honest.
‘This is the first time in my life that I’m thinking of just wrapping up and calling it a day.
‘It’s been awful. I accept that I shouldn’t have said those things but I don’t feel that I deserve to get death threats.
‘Even my daughter has been getting stick.
‘I know people may say that’s nothing compared to what Bernie went through, and maybe that’s fair, but it has made me take a hard look at myself.’
The tribunal heard Ms Hayes began working for the civil engineering contractor in 2021 as an office and finance manager.
Her harassment claim centred on comments made by Mr Atkins over a six-month period between December 2023 and June 2024.
She alleged ‘volatile’ Mr Atkins and his business partner Marcus Smith ’embarrassed’ her by making the comments – including calling her a ‘potato’ on Whatsapp.
The tribunal was told that Ms Hayes herself had used the word ‘potato’ and sent an emoji of the vegetable to Mr Atkins.
Ms Hayes, from Ossett, West Yorkshire, said she did so simply to ‘fit in’ and ‘make it seem okay’.
Text message exchanges shared with the Mail show Ms Hayes sending a potato emoji, and responding with laughing emojis when Mr Atkins joked that her passport photo looked like ‘Bee from Prisoner Cell Block H in a wig’.
Another message, in which Ms Hayes resigned her post, she told Mr Atkins: ‘I have so much respect for you, and appreciate everything you’ve ever done for me. ‘
He said he was ‘shocked’ when he learned that she was taking him to an employment tribunal claiming racial harassment.
Mr Atkins said: ‘She’s a Northern Irish lady with a strong personality who could give as good as she got. We were pals, I thought.
‘It was craic which seemingly has got out of hand and just ricocheted.’
Mr Atkins, who said he has worked in construction since the age of 22 and now employs 50 staff across his various businesses, insisted he did not have ‘an anti-Irish bone in my body’.
He said he had regularly supported the Irish community in Leeds, including donating trucks each year for the city’s St Patrick’s Day carnival parade to be used as floats.
He also pledged a £1,000 donation towards a charity lunch at Leeds Irish Centre in December.
But he admitted the tribunal outcome had forced him to confront the consequences of his behaviour.
He said: ‘I’m scared to have conversations with my staff now in case I accidentally offend them or if it’s taken out of context and used against me.
‘But I accept that no-one should feel small or humiliated at work because of something their boss says.’
Mr Atkins estimated the total financial hit from the case at around £60,000, once the £23,000 compensation payout and legal costs were taken into account.
Judge Sophie Buckley ruled his comments created a ‘hostile, humiliating and offensive environment’ for Ms Hayes.
She claimed she had suffered panic attacks and insomnia after ‘months of harassment and bullying’ and working in a ‘hostile and toxic environment’.
Ms Hayes told the three-day tribunal in Leeds: ‘If we had a disagreement, he would shout potato in a strong Irish accent over and over again.
‘He [did] this in front of other members of staff. He would shout potato as soon as he walked in the office without having me having even spoken to him.
‘This totally eroded my self-respect and my self esteem.’
She added: ‘He even sent “potato” in a WhatsApp exchange. Mr Atkins further called me a gypsy/traveller due to my Irish heritage. He would constantly say that I was lusting after the travellers outside the office. I felt bullied and harassed by this.’
The tribunal ruled that Ms Hayes had been subjected to ‘unwanted conduct’ which ‘clearly created a hostile, humiliating and offensive environment for her’.
Judge Buckley added: ‘In my view, taken as a whole, it is reasonable for an individual of Irish heritage to find the repeated use of the terms ‘potato’, ‘Paddy’, ‘stupid Paddy’ and ‘pikey’ offensive and humiliating.
‘These phrases are overtly linked to race, particularly when considered together rather than in isolation.’
Ms Hayes was awarded compensation totalling £23,526, including £13,000 in ‘injury to feelings’ and £6,014 related to loss of earnings.
She said she did not wish to comment on the tribunal ruling, adding: ‘I’d just like to put everything behind me and move on.’
