A Perthshire fruit farm has refused to accept the findings of an employment tribunal that ruled it subjected two Polish workers to racial discrimination.
David Leslie has been ordered to pay thousands of pounds in compensation to the two men, whose summer of fruit picking to raise money for university turned into “a nightmare.”
An employment judge, sitting in Dundee on Tuesday, said the pair were the victims of racial discrimination, and were “treated appallingly, without any common decency or respect, and left frightened and humiliated.”
Workers Tomasz Kowal and Michal Obieglo were sacked last summer by the company operating the David Leslie Fruits farm, on what the tribunal concluded was a fabricated charge of stealing fruit.
Leslie thought that the pair were behind a campaign by the immigrant workforce on the farm, at Scones of Lethendy, asking for minimum wage.
Earlier he had told them, “F***ing Polish, you’re not going to take over my farm.
“Do not strike or I’ll kick you off.”
He also demanded that they left the area, ushering them from the premises under police escort and leaving one with so little money that he had to hitch-hike home to Poland.
At an earlier hearing the men said they had started working for Peter Leslie & Sons, trading as David Leslie Fruits, in June.Appalling conditionsThey lived on the farm, which specialises in strawberries, in cramped metal cabins in what were described as “appalling” conditions by employment judge Nicol Hosie.
At the start of the working day the claimants had to drag a sledge half a mile or more, but were not paid for this.
They regularly spent 10 to 11 hours a day in the fields with other workers, but their pay slips would show fewer hours.
Work was paid at a “piece” rate, but this was variable, arbitrary and at the discretion of Mr Leslie, the second respondent in the claim to the tribunal.
Mr Kowal asked Mr Leslie about the daily rate of pay, but said he was sworn at and left “upset and frightened.”
News spread among farm workers and a joint approach was made the next day.’No f***ing employment law’Mr Leslie became angry and told the claimants there was “no f***ing employment law.”
They were given a written warning and told it was their “last chance.”
The next month, with poor weather, little fruit was picked and, with rates of pay between £1 and £5 an hour, the workers began seeking advice from the Perth Citizens Advice Bureau.
The pair began an unofficial campaign to make colleagues aware of their rights, which led to them being seen as the “ringleaders” by the respondents.
A petition calling for the agricultural minimum wage to be paid was signed by 145 workers but the same day Mr Kowal and Mr Obieglo were sacked for stealing fruit an allegation “without foundation.”
A strike followed with the two Poles, as English speakers, effectively spokesmen for their colleagues, and they had talks with Mr Leslie which were secretly filmed.
At first Mr Leslie dismissed their concerns, then became conciliatory and pledged that they would be addressed, so the workers returned to the fields and the two Poles were reinstated.
However the next day they were asked to report to the office, where two police officers said they had received a complaint about them stealing fruit.
The officers, the tribunal heard, were on first-name terms with Mr Leslie and the other members of the respondents’ management in the office.
The police told the two Poles to leave, watching the terrified duo as they collected their belongings then following the farm van which drove them to the bus station in Perth.
They were told by the driver that Mr Leslie had said to “make sure they left Perth” and not give them their belongings until they bought bus tickets for Edinburgh or Glasgow.
Although they had no wish to go there, they bought two tickets for Edinburgh and were given their possessions.
With nowhere to stay and little money, they eventually found accommodation through a local Catholic church.
Mr Obieglo booked a flight home from Prestwick with the last of his money, but Mr Kowal was forced to hitch-hike.
In a written judgment on Tuesday Mr Hosie said, “There is no doubt that the discrimination in this case was serious.
“Their hopes of spending a pleasant summer picking fruit in Scotland and earning some money to assist with their university educations turned into a nightmare.”
Mr Hosie ruled that the company and Mr Leslie should pay £12,555.18 to Mr Kowal, including £9471 compensation for injury to feeling through race discrimination.
Mr Obieglo was awarded £13,065.10, including a similar figure in compensation for the racial discrimination.
Last night Mr Leslie, who was not represented at the hearing, told The Courier, “Because of a very difficult financial position at the time I was unable to defend myself and my business in the employment tribunal.
“Had I been able to do so I believe a very different story would have emerged.”