An NHS midwife has won a discrimination case after a racist jibe at her expense on her last day in the job.
Olukemi Akinmeji took her bosses to court after a hospital colleague repeatedly told staff to "check their bags" on her final day.
The midwife said the comments followed on from nearly two years of working in a "toxic" environment where her colleagues would "gang up" on her.
Ms Akinmeji has now successfully sued her bosses after taking to an employment tribunal, where it was heard the comments were just one of several incidents of racial discrimination.
The midwife had started her role at William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, Kent, in March 2018, where she worked until handing in her notice in December the following year.
On her final day in January 2020, shift co-ordinator Kathy Carr repeatedly said "it's Kemi's last day, everyone check your bags".
Ms Carr claimed it was "light-hearted" but Ms Akinmeji said: "I do not see what was funny in being portrayed as a thief in front of my colleagues, patients and family members".
The "joke", the tribunal heard, was then repeated in the ward's hallway, with Ms Carr claiming she hadn't realised at the time it was "in bad taste" and "inappropriate in front of colleagues".
She told the hearing she had only just found out Ms Akinmeji was leaving and wanted to say something "light-hearted", and that the comment was made in response to posters put up in cloakrooms over real thefts that had been reported.
Ms Akinmeji made an official complaint to East Kent Hospitals University NHS Trust during her exit interview.
"If the Trust have zero tolerance to racism then it should act appropriately," she said.
"My complaint against Kathy Carr is however a formal complaint because she never was a friend nor joked with me.
"Yes, I have had a few sarcastic remarks from her but I do not see what was funny in being portrayed as a thief in front of my colleagues, patients and family members.
"Even if I overlook everything else, I do not intend to overlook being embarrassed so [publicly] with a false and baseless spiteful remark. The fact that [Kathy] Carr acts freely in such a manner goes without saying how she treats ethnic minorities."
The Trust replied: "Kathy has since attended unconscious bias training - as a result, she has again reflected on her comment and realises how inappropriate it was and insensitive to make such a comment, particularly in front of colleagues and she is sorry for this.
"She has stated she will not do so again, and is now very much aware of the expectation of management in relation to her behaviour and the consequences."
However, the tribunal heard that Ms Carr never attended the training course.
The panel concluded that Ms Akinmeji was working in a "toxic and difficult" environment she and her colleagues were shouted and sworn at.
Although it dismissed many of her racism claims, the tribunal did concluded that she had been discriminated against by the bag remark.
Employment Judge Anna Corrigan said: "The evidence shows that [Ms Akinmeji] was a subject of discussion by the group of midwives concerned, which had generated a shared negative attitude towards [her]and some hostility which she picked up on in their behaviour towards her.
"We find they thereby 'ganged up' against [her] and this suggests there was bullying of [her] by this group of midwives."
In regard to the bags comment, she said: "This was an extremely offensive comment in the context of a black colleague leaving the workplace and the knowledge that there had been actual thefts from staff.
"The implication is clearly that colleagues should take care of their things as [Ms Akinmeji] might be going to steal from colleagues on her last day."
