A university admin worker was sacked for using racist language after sending an email to a colleague calling them ‘hash brown’.
Ollie de Planta de Wildenberg, 28, was dismissed after just four days working full-time at Newcastle University for using the ‘perceived offensive, racial language’.
But the people services administrator ‘strenuously denies’ he sent the term deliberately, insisting the name of his female co-worker had autocorrected to ‘Hash brown’ on Outlook.
Mr de Planta de Wildenberg says he was oblivious to the ‘typing error’ until he was spoken to by his line manager the following morning, on September 26.
He was shown the door later that day after university bosses were unable to replicate the mistake.
Mr de Planta de Wildenberg, who lives with his parents in Gosforth, said: ‘When I was told, I just thought “oh my days”.
‘I had not met or spoken to this woman before so I had no reason to call her a name.
‘It was an informal meeting and he was laughing about it. He just told me to be more careful in the future and I thought that was the end of it.’
He added: ‘Hash brown is not a racist term. It is a breakfast item.
‘It is a bit weird thing to call someone that intentionally. Why would I do it? To class it as gross misconduct is just unbelievable. I didn’t realise initially just how serious they were taking it.
‘The sanction bears no resemblance to what happened. I strenuously deny that this message had been sent deliberately. It was a typing error. There is nothing to suggest this is racist.’
Mr de Planta de Wildenberg was an agency worker for five months before being taken on as a full-time member of staff just days before the incident.
metro.co.uk
Ollie de Planta de Wildenberg, 28, was dismissed after just four days working full-time at Newcastle University for using the ‘perceived offensive, racial language’.
But the people services administrator ‘strenuously denies’ he sent the term deliberately, insisting the name of his female co-worker had autocorrected to ‘Hash brown’ on Outlook.
Mr de Planta de Wildenberg says he was oblivious to the ‘typing error’ until he was spoken to by his line manager the following morning, on September 26.
He was shown the door later that day after university bosses were unable to replicate the mistake.
Mr de Planta de Wildenberg, who lives with his parents in Gosforth, said: ‘When I was told, I just thought “oh my days”.
‘I had not met or spoken to this woman before so I had no reason to call her a name.
‘It was an informal meeting and he was laughing about it. He just told me to be more careful in the future and I thought that was the end of it.’
He added: ‘Hash brown is not a racist term. It is a breakfast item.
‘It is a bit weird thing to call someone that intentionally. Why would I do it? To class it as gross misconduct is just unbelievable. I didn’t realise initially just how serious they were taking it.
‘The sanction bears no resemblance to what happened. I strenuously deny that this message had been sent deliberately. It was a typing error. There is nothing to suggest this is racist.’
Mr de Planta de Wildenberg was an agency worker for five months before being taken on as a full-time member of staff just days before the incident.
Uni worker sacked for calling colleague a 'hash brown'
Ollie de Planta de Wildenberg insists the co-worker's name was auto-corrected, adding: 'Hash brown is not a racist term. It is a breakfast item.'
metro.co.uk
