Is it dismissal offence?

sillyvixen

sorry op, but i agree with your colleagues. In my occupation I am mobile, I have a base but support several different locations when they are short staffed (this can be between 1 and 5 days a week), if I received your words of welcome I would not have even taken my coat off I would have returned to my base and filed a grievance! it we would not matter whether you were uk born and bred, from another country or from mars, I have come help out and your words of welcome were inappropriate and ungreatful. I don't think I could work with you - and for the record I am certainly not a snowflake!!

Mickey666

sillyvixen said:

sorry op, but i agree with your colleagues. In my occupation I am mobile, I have a base but support several different locations when they are short staffed (this can be between 1 and 5 days a week), if I received your words of welcome I would not have even taken my coat off I would have returned to my base and filed a grievance! it we would not matter whether you were uk born and bred, from another country or from mars, I have come help out and your words of welcome were inappropriate and ungreatful. I don't think I could work with you - and for the record I am certainly not a snowflake!!

“To be offended is a choice we make; it is not a condition inflicted or imposed upon us by someone or something else.”  David A. Bednar (US Clergyman).

Or, to put it another way . . . 

 “It’s now very common to hear people say, ‘I’m rather offended by that.’ As if that gives them certain rights. It’s actually nothing more… than a whine. ‘I find that offensive.’ It has no meaning; it has no purpose; it has no reason to be respected as a phrase. ‘I am offended by that.’ Well, so !!!!!! what.”   Stephen Fry

74jax

sillyvixen said:

sorry op, but i agree with your colleagues. In my occupation I am mobile, I have a base but support several different locations when they are short staffed (this can be between 1 and 5 days a week), if I received your words of welcome I would not have even taken my coat off I would have returned to my base and filed a grievance! it we would not matter whether you were uk born and bred, from another country or from mars, I have come help out and your words of welcome were inappropriate and ungreatful. I don't think I could work with you - and for the record I am certainly not a snowflake!!

Just out of interest, on what grounds?

General_Grant

Silly Vixen.

Thrugelmir

74jax said:

sillyvixen said:

sorry op, but i agree with your colleagues. In my occupation I am mobile, I have a base but support several different locations when they are short staffed (this can be between 1 and 5 days a week), if I received your words of welcome I would not have even taken my coat off I would have returned to my base and filed a grievance! it we would not matter whether you were uk born and bred, from another country or from mars, I have come help out and your words of welcome were inappropriate and ungreatful. I don't think I could work with you - and for the record I am certainly not a snowflake!!

Just out of interest, on what grounds?

Majority of organisations have a published code of conduct within their employee handbooks. Part of this conduct code will consist of key principles. One being

• We promote diversity and equality and treat people fairly and with respect.

baza52

im sorry but had they called you a refugee im sure they would have been dragged over the coals for it.
Being foreign yourself is not a get out of jail card and i would be pretty pd off if you had used to term to greet me with.
A white english person would be at fault if he called another white english worker a "N" word and quite rightly so.

The word refugee might not be offensive in itself but it would depend how you used that word and what context it was used in.
Lets remember racism is not just limited to a certain group of people it applies to every creed and colour.

Raspberry_Queen

atothec said:

Raspberry_Queen said:

I think you need to make a counter grievance for racism on three counts:


1) They - including HR - are all bullying you as a foreigner who speaks English as a second language. They are penalizing your innocent attempts to use friendly and humorous English. This is humiliating, discriminating, rejecting, and degrading you, and showing zero tolerance for the struggles of speaking English as a second language.

2) Therefore, you have reason to believe that your colleagues (including HR) are bullying you BECAUSE you are foreign.

3) The judgement that the word "refugees" is an insult is severely racist, and shows that they think badly of refugees. This has caused you to feel shocked and hurt, and caused you to worry that there is a culture at your workplace of being intolerant of foreigners. 


All of this is valid and they can't deny it. Even if you are a sensible human being who doesn't get hurt feelings at absolutely everything, please do word it like I have suggested. They'll soon drop the grievance against you. As a foreigner, in this situation, in terms of discrimination laws you hold the power here. 

Do you think I should write this for the meeting or send it in before the meeting I got for 10th of May please? 

I'm not an expert, but in my opinion you should get your grievance before the meeting: the best outcome here would be for the disciplinary to be cancelled (if that is possible - I don't know you're company's procedures). 

I will be replying to your other messages soon!

Raspberry_Queen

baza52 said:

im sorry but had they called you a refugee im sure they would have been dragged over the coals for it.
Being foreign yourself is not a get out of jail card and i would be pretty pd off if you had used to term to greet me with.
A white english person would be at fault if he called another white english worker a "N" word and quite rightly so.

The word refugee might not be offensive in itself but it would depend how you used that word and what context it was used in.
Lets remember racism is not just limited to a certain group of people it applies to every creed and colour.

You are missing the point. You have no compassion, understanding or tolerance for how hard it is to speak a second language. Mistakes are inevitable, and the only way you can learn is real-life practice. It is racist and illegal to not take this into account. 

The words he used were not inherently offensive words, and the tone and appropriateness are subjective and dependent upon a lot of things. Some people may have found it funny in some situations. It is very difficult to gauge the subtleties of what is appropriate or not in a non-native. 

He is being punished and threatened with the sack, for innocently using English wrong. 

pinkshoes

baza52 said:

im sorry but had they called you a refugee im sure they would have been dragged over the coals for it.
Being foreign yourself is not a get out of jail card and i would be pretty pd off if you had used to term to greet me with.
A white english person would be at fault if he called another white english worker a "N" word and quite rightly so.

The word refugee might not be offensive in itself but it would depend how you used that word and what context it was used in.
Lets remember racism is not just limited to a certain group of people it applies to every creed and colour.

I take it you also speak a second language that is not a parent-tongue?

The OP clearly meant no malice in his expression. 

We quite often use the expression "to seek refuge from the rain", which also comes from the term refugee. English language has SO many words, whereas other languages use the same word for various meanings.

By pulling the OP up on his use of this word is racist in itself against someone making an effort to use a second language. 

And you cannot even begin to compare the N word with the word refugee. OMG! Just no!

My ex was French and although he spoke English well, he often mixed up words or used them in the wrong context. That's how you learn!

baza52

pinkshoes said:

baza52 said:

im sorry but had they called you a refugee im sure they would have been dragged over the coals for it.
Being foreign yourself is not a get out of jail card and i would be pretty pd off if you had used to term to greet me with.
A white english person would be at fault if he called another white english worker a "N" word and quite rightly so.

The word refugee might not be offensive in itself but it would depend how you used that word and what context it was used in.
Lets remember racism is not just limited to a certain group of people it applies to every creed and colour.

I take it you also speak a second language that is not a parent-tongue?

The OP clearly meant no malice in his expression. 

We quite often use the expression "to seek refuge from the rain", which also comes from the term refugee. English language has SO many words, whereas other languages use the same word for various meanings.

By pulling the OP up on his use of this word is racist in itself against someone making an effort to use a second language. 

And you cannot even begin to compare the N word with the word refugee. OMG! Just no!

My ex was French and although he spoke English well, he often mixed up words or used them in the wrong context. That's how you learn!

yes, i also speak American, Australian and Canadian.
You cannot honestly say that the word refugee is not known to the OP and its current meaning. Op even gives a definition of it so i cannot see how it was used in the wrong context or that it was a lack of understanding of English.
Ignorance is not a defence and if the roles were reversed you would be sticking up for the person it was said to claiming racism.
It has been suggested that the 2 people complaining are being racist themselves by bringing it up.

It pretty obvious the word was used in jest but not everyone gets the same jokes and can take offence.
This is going to be about how the other people felt and if inappropriate language or words were used.