White Job Centre worker awarded £65,000 after she was hounded out of job by racist colleague who branded her a 'n*****-lover'

• A tribunal ruled Julie Davies' managers failed to protect her from the office's 'toxic atmosphere'
• The first note left on her desk was a picture of a golliwog with the typed message 'f*** off n***** lover'

A white Job Centre worker who was branded a ‘n*****-lover’ by a racist colleague and hounded out of her job by 'inept' bosses has won more than £65,000 in compensation.
Julie Davies, 41, was targeted with a string of vile taunting notes at the Department of Work and Pensions in Liverpool.
A tribunal ruled that Mrs Davies’ managers failed to protect her from her office’s 'toxic atmosphere' and so she had no choice but to resign in April 2011.

Mrs Davies said the hate campaign began after she objected to racist comments about 2010 X Factor stars Gamu Nhengu, left, and Rebecca Ferguson, right

The first note left on her desk was a picture of a golliwog with the typed message: ‘F*** off n*****-lover’.
Other offensive messages in later notes included 'N*****-lover bitch f*** off’ and ‘so just f*** off snobby b****’.
Mrs Davies told Liverpool Employment Tribunal that the hate campaign began after she objected to racist comments about 2010 X Factor stars Rebecca Ferguson and Gamu Nhengu.
The customer service agent alleged that she overheard one woman who said of runner-up Rebecca: 'She is quite attractive considering she’s a n*****.'
She accused another female colleague of saying of Zimbabwe-born Gamu: 'They should just send the c*** back.'
Mrs Davies, of Liverpool, has a son from a previous marriage and a granddaughter who are Spanish-Arabic origin.

Tribunal: Mrs Davies, of Liverpool, pictured, has a son from a previous marriage and a granddaughter who are Spanish-Arabic origin

She took offence when workmate Shirley McIver referred to them as 'coloured'.
When she was challenged, Mrs McIver asked: 'Well what shade of black are they?'
The tribunal awarded her £65,172 in compensation for race discrimination, harassment, unfair dismissal and victimisation.
The payout included £32,000 for lost earnings, £18,000 for hurt feelings and £10,000 aggravated damages.
The DWP said it would be taking forward recommendations from the judgement.
Announcing the compensation, employment judge Keith Robinson said Mrs Davies’ bosses could easily have transferred her but 'dragged their feet'.
They chose not to call in police; refused to allow Mrs Davies to raise a formal grievance; and did not even mount an investigation into who was sending the notes until the third was received.
Instead, after her complaint 'vindictive' managers falsely accused Mrs Davies of failing to handle customers properly and she went off sick through stress before resigning.
Judge Robinson said: 'This is a most serious case. The respondent is a government body.
'Receiving extremely unpleasant, depressing and upsetting notes was bad enough for the claimant but the inadequate reaction of both middle and senior management to that situation caused much of the damage.'
He said that their handling of Mrs Davies’ complaint was 'inept' and ensured they lost a 'valued and valuable employee' who had worked for them for two years.
He added: 'This was a woman who had worked hard for the Department and had an exemplary record and was superb at her job.'
Mrs Davies broke down in tears as she recalled her ordeal after the X Factor discussions in mid-October 2010.
Shortly afterwards, he was sent three notes between October 25 and November 29.

'These were extremely racist and sexist notes in a government workplace.

'The claimant was genuinely and clearly upset, and who wouldn’t be?'

Judge in tribunal case

She said: 'I am deeply horrified and disgusted at what I have been the subject of.'
Judge Keith ruled: 'These were extremely racist and sexist notes in a government workplace.
'The claimant was genuinely and clearly upset, and who wouldn’t be?
'It was clear that something needed to be done to get Mrs Davies out of the nightmare she found herself in but that was not done by the department.
'An investigation was not put into place until after Mrs Davies received the third note.'
The tribunal heard that Mrs Davies suffered anxiety and depression from her ordeal but was trying to set up her own business.
It ruled that the two particular women Mrs Davies accused of making racist comments about the X Factor contestants were not responsible.
The racist who sent the notes has never been identified.
A DWP spokesman said: 'The Department is taking forward recommendations from the judgement.
'We are committed to providing services to everyone regardless of their background. As an employer we will not tolerate any discrimination.'
The exact location of the DWP offices was not revealed in the case, and the DWP later refused to reveal it.
Spokeswoman Kirsty Welch said: 'It is not appropriate'.