--- title: "When \"Banter\" Becomes Discrimination: Lessons from the HMRC Tribunal Case" description: "An HMRC tribunal awarded a trainee £16,506 after a manager's \"listening device\" remark was ruled race discrimination. What employers should take from it." image: https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1590649681928-4b179f773bd5?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wxMDE3MjIwfDB8MXxzZWFyY2h8MXx8d29ya3BsYWNlJTIwY29udmVyc2F0aW9uJTIwdHdvJTIwY29sbGVhZ3Vlc3xlbnwwfDB8fHwxNzkwNTg1NzYzfDI&ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=80&w=1080 --- [Skip to content](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/blog/when-banter-becomes-discrimination-lessons-from-the-hmrc-tribunal-case#main-content) [![Logo - Human by Practice](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/hs-fs/hubfs/logo%20dark%20transparent.png?width=600&height=221&name=logo%20dark%20transparent.png)Homepage](https://humanbypractice.co.uk) - [Home](https://humanbypractice.co.uk) - [About](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/about-human-by-practice) - [Services](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/services) - [Diversity & Inclusion, Neurodiversity & Culture Training](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/diversity-inclusion-dei-neurodiversity-and-culture-training) - [Leadership & Management Training](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/leadership-and-management-training) - [Coaching](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/coaching-services) - [DEI Strategy, Audit & Culture Diagnostic](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/dei-strategy-diagnostics-and-culture-consulting) - [Core Training](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/edi-training-leadership-programmes-management-training) - [Everyday Inclusion & Belonging](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/everyday-inclusion-and-belonging-training) - [Sexual Harassment Prevention](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/sexual-harassment-prevention-training) - [Manager Essentials](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/manager-essentials-training) - [Leading Inclusion & Culture](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/leading-inclusion-and-culture-training) - [Human-Centred Leadership](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/human-centred-leadership-training) - [Banter, Harassment, Bullying & Boundaries](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/banter-harassment-bullying-boundaries-training) - [Neurodiversity & Accessibility](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/neurodiversity-neuro-inclusion-training) - [Allyship & Active Bystander](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/allyship-and-active-bystander-skills-training) - [Inclusive Recruitment & Decision Making](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/inclusive-recruitment-and-decision-making-training) - [Aspiring Leaders Modular Programme](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/aspiring-leaders-leadership-development-programme) - [Leading the Future Modular Programme](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/leading-the-future-leadership-development-programme) - [Contact](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/contact) - [Blog](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/blog) - [Home](https://humanbypractice.co.uk) - [About](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/about-human-by-practice) - [Services](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/services) - [Diversity & Inclusion, Neurodiversity & Culture Training](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/diversity-inclusion-dei-neurodiversity-and-culture-training) - [Leadership & Management Training](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/leadership-and-management-training) - [Coaching](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/coaching-services) - [DEI Strategy, Audit & Culture Diagnostic](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/dei-strategy-diagnostics-and-culture-consulting) - [Core Training](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/edi-training-leadership-programmes-management-training) - [Everyday Inclusion & Belonging](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/everyday-inclusion-and-belonging-training) - [Sexual Harassment Prevention](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/sexual-harassment-prevention-training) - [Manager Essentials](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/manager-essentials-training) - [Leading Inclusion & Culture](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/leading-inclusion-and-culture-training) - [Human-Centred Leadership](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/human-centred-leadership-training) - [Banter, Harassment, Bullying & Boundaries](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/banter-harassment-bullying-boundaries-training) - [Neurodiversity & Accessibility](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/neurodiversity-neuro-inclusion-training) - [Allyship & Active Bystander](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/allyship-and-active-bystander-skills-training) - [Inclusive Recruitment & Decision Making](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/inclusive-recruitment-and-decision-making-training) - [Aspiring Leaders Modular Programme](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/aspiring-leaders-leadership-development-programme) - [Leading the Future Modular Programme](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/leading-the-future-leadership-development-programme) - [Contact](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/contact) - [Blog](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/blog) ☎  +44 (0) 333 33 55 318    **@**   hello@humanbypractice.co.uk ![](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1590649681928-4b179f773bd5?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wxMDE3MjIwfDB8MXxzZWFyY2h8MXx8d29ya3BsYWNlJTIwY29udmVyc2F0aW9uJTIwdHdvJTIwY29sbGVhZ3Vlc3xlbnwwfDB8fHwxNzkwNTg1NzYzfDI&ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=80&w=1080) Inclusive Workplaces Lived Experience Culture Diagnostic # When "Banter" Becomes Discrimination: Lessons from the HMRC Tribunal Case ![Jess Sandham](https://app.hubspot.com/settings/avatar/f3e718f0208c41d2455e73d3b4d42e4c) Jess Sandham September 28, 2026 An Edinburgh employment tribunal has given UK employers a clear illustration of where workplace "banter" ends and discrimination begins. HMRC has been ordered to pay a trainee £16,506 after her line manager linked a stray earring stud to a "listening device," a remark the tribunal found was tied directly to her Armenian heritage and Russian first language. No one used a slur. No one issued a threat. A manager made an offhand comment, and a tribunal still ruled it was direct race discrimination. That is what makes this case worth building into training, briefings and manager conversations now, well before it becomes a headline employers wish they had planned for. ![A group of colleagues sitting together at a table in a meeting](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1573164574572-cb89e39749b4?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wxMDE3MjIwfDB8MXxzZWFyY2h8M3x8ZGl2ZXJzZSUyMG9mZmljZSUyMHRlYW0lMjBtZWV0aW5nfGVufDB8MHx8fDE3OTA1ODU3MzF8Mg&ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=80&w=1080) Photo by [Christina @ wocintechchat.com M](https://unsplash.com/@wocintechchat?utm_source=human_by_practice&utm_medium=referral) on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/?utm_source=human_by_practice&utm_medium=referral) ## What happened The trainee, referred to in the judgment as Ms X, had changed her surname on HMRC's internal systems for safety reasons after a racially motivated attack. When she asked her manager, DR, to remove her previous Armenian surname from the intranet, he questioned the threat itself and cited his own background in law enforcement. On her first day back as a trainee in July 2022, a stud fell from her handbag strap. DR remarked that it could be a listening device. The tribunal found this comment had a racial basis built into the act itself. It would not have been made to a trainee without her background. The same manager also disputed whether Ms X had completed a previous probation period. She provided confirmation that she had. He required her to repeat it anyway, while two colleagues of different ethnicities in comparable circumstances were not asked to do the same. A later dispute over job allocation followed. DR produced handwritten notes attributing comments to Ms X that she denied making, and the dispute led to a written warning on her record. ## Why the tribunal called this discrimination The tribunal looked at these incidents as a pattern. Individually, each one had a plausible innocent explanation. Together, they showed a trainee receiving different treatment from her manager because of her ethnicity. HMRC was ordered to pay £14,000 for injury to feelings, plus interest. ![Two colleagues having a conversation at a standing desk in an office](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1590649681928-4b179f773bd5?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wxMDE3MjIwfDB8MXxzZWFyY2h8MXx8d29ya3BsYWNlJTIwY29udmVyc2F0aW9uJTIwdHdvJTIwY29sbGVhZ3Vlc3xlbnwwfDB8fHwxNzkwNTg1NzYzfDI&ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=80&w=1080) Photo by [LinkedIn Sales Solutions](https://unsplash.com/@linkedinsalesnavigator?utm_source=human_by_practice&utm_medium=referral) on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/?utm_source=human_by_practice&utm_medium=referral) ## The pattern employers keep missing We see this shape often in harassment and culture work. A joke here. A paperwork dispute there. A disagreement over what was said in a meeting. Any one of these, raised on its own, is easy for a manager or an HR team to dismiss. Training that only teaches people to recognise slurs and explicit threats misses cases like this entirely. Managers need to understand that a comment tied to someone's accent, name or background carries real weight even when it arrives as a joke. They also need to understand that a series of small, unequal decisions can build into a pattern a tribunal will recognise as discrimination. ## Why this matters more from October From October 2026, UK employers face a stronger legal duty to take all reasonable steps to prevent harassment, including from third parties. A tribunal record like this one is exactly the evidence a court will look for when it asks whether managers were trained to recognise discrimination in its early, deniable forms, or only in its most obvious ones. Case studies like the HMRC ruling are far more useful for that training than invented scenarios, because tribunals judge real conduct, not textbook examples. ![Colleagues in an office discussing work together](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1504384308090-c894fdcc538d?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wxMDE3MjIwfDB8MXxzZWFyY2h8Mnx8b2ZmaWNlJTIwdHJhaW5pbmclMjB3b3Jrc2hvcHxlbnwwfDB8fHwxNzkwNTg1NzU5fDI&ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=80&w=1080) Photo by [Alex Kotliarskyi](https://unsplash.com/@frantic?utm_source=human_by_practice&utm_medium=referral) on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/?utm_source=human_by_practice&utm_medium=referral) ## What HBP recommends We build our harassment prevention training around cases like this one, not generic scenarios that are easy to identify as wrong. Managers should leave training able to answer a harder question: would I recognise this on my own team, and would I know what to do next. We also recommend an audit of how probation, performance and disciplinary decisions are applied across employees with different backgrounds. Patterns like the one in this case rarely appear in a single incident. They appear when someone compares how the same situation was handled for different people. If your last harassment training covered slurs and explicit threats and little else, it is worth revisiting before October. Get in touch with HBP to talk about training that reflects what discrimination actually looks like across most workplaces. ## Share this post [mailto:https%3A%2F%2Fhumanbypractice.co.uk%2Fblog%2Fwhen-banter-becomes-discrimination-lessons-from-the-hmrc-tribunal-case](mailto:https%3A%2F%2Fhumanbypractice.co.uk%2Fblog%2Fwhen-banter-becomes-discrimination-lessons-from-the-hmrc-tribunal-case) ## Keep reading ### [![](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1787647559700-529fab8e431c?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&q=80&w=1080) neurodiversity neuro-inclusion inclusive culture What the Government's New Neurodiversity Report Means for UK Employers](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/blog/what-the-governments-new-neurodiversity-report-means-for-uk-employers) ### [![](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1622675363311-3e1904dc1885?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wxMDE3MjIwfDB8MXxzZWFyY2h8MXx8ZGl2ZXJzZSUyMGJ1c2luZXNzJTIwbGVhZGVycyUyMG1lZXRpbmd8ZW58MHwwfHx8MTc5MDc1NzQyOXwy&ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=80&w=1080) human-centred leadership Psychological Safety Organisational Culture Leadership Behaviour Is the Missing Variable in Change Management](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/blog/leadership-behaviour-is-the-missing-variable-in-change-management) ![Social Proof](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202026-03-19%20at%2011.38.24.png?width=800&height=313&name=Screenshot%202026-03-19%20at%2011.38.24.png "Social Proof") ![IoL Logo-1](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/hs-fs/hubfs/IoL%20Logo-1.png?width=1186&height=692&name=IoL%20Logo-1.png "IoL Logo-1") ## Ready to get started? [Enquire now](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/contact) - [Home](https://humanbypractice.co.uk) - [About](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/about-human-by-practice) - [Services](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/services) - [Core Training](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/edi-training-leadership-programmes-management-training) - [Contact](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/contact) - [Blog](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/blog) Human by Practice delivers diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) training, neurodiversity and neuro-inclusion training, leadership coaching, inclusive leadership workshops, and culture change consultancy. We're based in Edinburgh but work across the UK and beyond. We help organisations build equitable, confident, human-centred workplaces.   Sign up to the [newsletter](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/newsletter) for the latest insights. Email: [hello@humanbypractice.co.uk](mailto:hello@humanbypractice.co.uk) Phone: +44 (0) 333 33 55 318   [Privacy Policy](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/privacy-policy) · [Terms of Use](https://humanbypractice.co.uk/terms-of-use) · © 2025 Human by Practice Ltd All rights reserved. SC761035 ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Jess Sandham", "url" : "https://humanbypractice.co.uk/blog/author/jess-sandham" }, "dateModified" : "2026-09-28T11:44:32.909Z", "datePublished" : "2026-09-28T11:44:32.000Z", "headline" : "When \"Banter\" Becomes Discrimination: Lessons from the HMRC Tribunal Case", "image" : [ "https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1590649681928-4b179f773bd5?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wxMDE3MjIwfDB8MXxzZWFyY2h8MXx8d29ya3BsYWNlJTIwY29udmVyc2F0aW9uJTIwdHdvJTIwY29sbGVhZ3Vlc3xlbnwwfDB8fHwxNzkwNTg1NzYzfDI&ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=80&w=1080" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://humanbypractice.co.uk/blog/when-banter-becomes-discrimination-lessons-from-the-hmrc-tribunal-case", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://humanbypractice.co.uk/hubfs/logo%20dark%20transparent.png" }, "name" : "Human by Practice Ltd." } } ```