Work paid suspended

atothec

Hi everyone some advice please as been sent home, suspected for something we were talking at work and a work colleague took it as a racist word towards himself here is the reason 


We were talking about a village close to where we live and I referred to it as the village won't accept us (as me and him) I was meaning as we wasn't born at the village, and another person was in the conversation too, as we were talking about being accepted and not, I said to the guy that he is wrong color for that village (he is black but had nothing to do with colour or race) and I'm white but not born in the UK myself.
So he went to HR and reported it and another female backed him up, while I denied at the HR that it had to do with colour or race they send me home waiting for further investigation, 
What's my next step please with people who gone through this thank you 

jackieblack

Sorry, but TBH I'm struggling to understand how you think telling someone he is the wrong colour (for that village), has nothing to do with colour...
If you don't want someone to think you mean colour, then don't use the word colour...

Emmia

atothec said:

Hi everyone some advice please as been sent home, suspected for something we were talking at work and a work colleague took it as a racist word towards himself here is the reason 


We were talking about a village close to where we live and I referred to it as the village won't accept us (as me and him) I was meaning as we wasn't born at the village, and another person was in the conversation too, as we were talking about being accepted and not, I said to the guy that he is wrong color for that village (he is black but had nothing to do with colour or race) and I'm white but not born in the UK myself.
So he went to HR and reported it and another female backed him up, while I denied at the HR that it had to do with colour or race they send me home waiting for further investigation, 
What's my next step please with people who gone through this thank you 

I can absolutely see how that has been interpreted as racist. In fact I really can't see how it could be interpreted differently.

la531983

Emmia said:

atothec said:

Hi everyone some advice please as been sent home, suspected for something we were talking at work and a work colleague took it as a racist word towards himself here is the reason 


We were talking about a village close to where we live and I referred to it as the village won't accept us (as me and him) I was meaning as we wasn't born at the village, and another person was in the conversation too, as we were talking about being accepted and not, I said to the guy that he is wrong color for that village (he is black but had nothing to do with colour or race) and I'm white but not born in the UK myself.
So he went to HR and reported it and another female backed him up, while I denied at the HR that it had to do with colour or race they send me home waiting for further investigation, 
What's my next step please with people who gone through this thank you 

I can absolutely see how that has been interpreted as racist. In fact I really can't see how it could be interpreted differently.

I can, he is suggesting the people in the village are racist. Not him.

born_again

atothec said:

Hi everyone some advice please as been sent home, suspected for something we were talking at work and a work colleague took it as a racist word towards himself here is the reason 


We were talking about a village close to where we live and I referred to it as the village won't accept us (as me and him) I was meaning as we wasn't born at the village, and another person was in the conversation too, as we were talking about being accepted and not, I said to the guy that he is wrong color for that village (he is black but had nothing to do with colour or race) and I'm white but not born in the UK myself.
So he went to HR and reported it and another female backed him up, while I denied at the HR that it had to do with colour or race they send me home waiting for further investigation, 
What's my next step please with people who gone through this thank you 

Sadly the mention of "Colour" brings in colour & race as a reason.

DE_612183

Let HR do the investigation - I'm not sure what else you can do.

Will the person you were talking to back up your view that your comment was not racist?

I take it from your post that English is not your first language, so I would try and speak to someone who has English as their first language so they can perhaps write down what exactly you mean - as others have said your post does not do much to change peoples mind about the situation.

Isthisforreal99

Some things should never be said in the workplace, no matter the context. This was one of them.

DE_612183

atothec said:

 We were all on the line waiting for a setter. K and A speaking about their weekend and K mentioned he was in village name for a Jazz event.
K asked if live in village name and I replied no in different village , then A said he cannot live in village name he is the wrong colour.
HS: Who would have heard that?
MHD: K and V would have both heard the comment
HS: Ever made comments ike that before?
MHD: He has made comments ike that before, however I can take a joke that was just too far.
HS: Anything said when it happened?
MHD: did not say anything, think he realised I was !!!!!! off by facial expressions but then said 'We could not go to village name either' but only said that because I was !!!!!! off.(This is all it was said) 

Who is K & A - they are your work colleagues?
who are HS & MHD?

It's hard to follow the conversation?

Uriziel

Have you been sent home already and had a word with HR or your manager?
Did they not tell you what the next step is?
Normally you would have a HR hearing.
I would email HR and explain that you did not mean it to sound racist but that you meant that you felt the village you were discussing discriminates against people of colour. Make sure to be apologetic.
It depends how valuable you are to the company. If you are "just a worker" they will probably let you go irrelevant of whether you make sense or not.