An Anglo-Australian sued his former employer for racial discrimination and claimed HK $ two hundred thousand after being called "(gweilo)" by his colleague and eventually fired.
According to the South China Morning Post, engineer Hayden (Francis William Haden) filed a lawsuit in the Hong Kong District Court last week against his employer, Leighton Asian (Leighton Contractors (Asia), for racial discrimination and causing him to lose his job.
Ghost = ghost guy?
Hayden served as the blasting engineering manager for the Lam Tin Tunnel Project in Tseung Kwan O. The tunnel project was jointly undertaken by Leighton Asia and China Construction Engineering Corporation.
Hayden claims that the company ` s dismissal of him last February violated the Racial Discrimination Ordinance. According to court documents, Hayden was hired as the blasting engineering manager for the Lantian Tunnel project in Tseung Kwan O in August 2016.
The tunnel, jointly constructed by Leighton Asia and China Building Engineering Corporation (CRCC), is expected to be completed in 2021. Hayden says he has been discriminated against and marginalized by his colleagues since taking office, and employees have called him a "ghost" in a disdainful manner, which he believes is literally "ghost-like / evil".
It is said that locals often use "ghost" to refer to Westerners, and it does mean offensive racial insult at first, but now more and more people think it is acceptable and often used without derogatory meaning.
But Hayden said that China Construction staff once said, "Why are there so many ghosts in this project?" And the former employer often arranged meetings when he was off duty and didn`t give him minutes afterwards.
Can`t Chinese be isolated?
Hayden further claimed that China Construction did not want non-Chinese to participate in the project, so it was not willing to hire him as an Australian blasting expert. CSC was even accused of arranging his Chinese subordinates to perform certain tasks without Hayden ` s knowledge.
Hayden also said that because he could not speak Chinese, he was still isolated after he reported his concerns to his supervisor.
Hayden complained to the Hong Kong Equal opportunities Commission in February 2017 that he was eventually fired because of racial discrimination. The Equal opportunities Commission ended its investigation in March and asked both sides to mediate negotiations. Because Leighton Asia refused to mediate, Hayden decided to file it with court.
Hayden wants two hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars in compensation for emotional injuries he has received, plus financial losses since he was fired.
