Sławomir Rowinski was providing instructions to a new Polish employee at Kuehne & Nagel logistics when his furious supervisor urged him to speak English rather than Polish.

The latter went even further, forbidding Mr Rowinski from making use of his mother tongue. He even organised a special staff meeting to remind employees of the rules which are to be applied in the company, including the exclusive use of the English language.

While addressing the employment tribunal, Mr Rowinski explained that his supervisor was “practically screaming with a smile of satisfaction on his face.” However, the Polish driver’s repeated complaints regarding his boss’ attitude remained mostly ignored. 

Company managers then ruled that the above-mentioned supervisor had been “well within his rights” by telling his employees not to speak Polish at work, in accordance with the company’s language policy. 

In court, judge Andrew Gumbiti-Zumuto ruled “no such breach” of a company’s language policy would justify the “rude and aggressive way” the supervisor spoke to his employee. He added that Mr Rowinski had been subjected to discrimination due to his race, and was then awarded £8,973.63 in compensation.

In an interview given to the Polish Fakt newspaper, Mr Rowinski explained that he “sometimes had to help [his] compatriots with the language, because not everyone knew it well.”

“By winning this case, I created a kind of precedent. In future cases of this type in British courts, it will be possible to refer to my case and thus similar judgments may be passed”- he added. 

Image: Google maps/Sławomir Rowinski/Linkedin

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen