A Leeds council officer made offensive remarks about bacon sandwiches which could be construed as racist, an investigation has found.
Although he did not intend to cause offence the officer made ‘unnecessary’ comments to three Muslim residents which could reasonably be interpreted as Islamophobic, an inquiry carried out by the local authority concluded.
A complaint against him has been partially upheld by the council, which said the officer involved had apologised.
However, the report said ‘further apologies and explanations are required regarding this matter.’
The investigation said the employee was alleged to have made the comments while talking to three Muslim men at Civic Hall last year.
He urged one not to arrive early for a meeting the following day, because he and colleagues would be eating bacon sandwiches.
Two of the witnesses claimed the officer bore a ‘grin’ or ‘smirk’ as he made the comments and that his facial expression ‘changed from serious to joking’.
In his own account the officer said he had been referring to an end-of-year breakfast taking place for staff and that he’d mentioned he and colleagues would be eating bacon sandwiches, but he denied smirking or displaying any sort of body language.
He also denied claims he further remarked, ‘You don’t want to talk to me with bacon in my mouth’.
The report said one of the men challenged the officer when they met the next day and told him he found the comments to be ‘racist, offensive, Islamaphobic and hurtful’.
The report concluded: ‘The remarks and references to bacon sandwiches were unnecessary and have proved to be offensive, hurtful and could reasonably and understandably be construed as racist and interpreted as Islamophobic.
‘The remarks were not in keeping with the council’s values and the expected behaviours from its staff.’
A spokesperson for Leeds City Council said: ‘We don’t comment on individual complaints or staffing issues, but assure the public that we follow our complaints policy on these matters and that we take any complaint in relation to equality and diversity very seriously.’
