NHS project manager sues for racial discrimination

NHS project manager sues for racial discrimination after her boss regularly joked she was ‘Nanook of the North’ like Canadian Inuits in 1922 silent film

• Tribunal heard manager Roz Howie made ‘derogatory’ comment when colleague Tinuloa Akinyosoye-Rodney arrived at work in Nottingham in gloves and fur cap
• Ms Akinyosoye-Rodney said she found the comments ‘annoying and derogatory’
• She claims Ms Howie also made her feel uncomfortable because she said she could not spell her name and asked her if she was ‘aggressive’ due to her culture
• The former NHS worker is suing the Nottingham City Commissioning Group for racial discrimination and full tribunal hearing is set to take place at a later date 

An NHS worker is suing for racial discrimination after her boss called her ‘Nanook of the North’ for wrapping up in cold weather.

Tinuola Akinyosoye-Rodney claims Rosalyne Howie repeatedly made the ‘derogatory’ comment when she arrived at work wearing gloves and a fur-lined cap.

The project manager alleges the jibe was made in front of colleagues to ‘undermine’ and ’embarrass’ her and is now demanding compensation from the health service.

The phrase ‘Nanook of the North’ comes from the 1922 silent documentary which tells the story of indigenous Inuit people surviving in the harsh climate of northern Quebec, Canada.

Though American filmmaker Robert J. Flaherty received praise for creating one of the first ever documentaries, the film has attracted criticism in recent years over race-related controversies.

Ms Akinyosoye-Rodney, who worked for Nottingham City Clinical Commissioning Group from April 2017 to April 2019, alleges Ms Howie’s comments amounted to racial discrimination.

Tinuola Akinyosoye-Rodney (left) is suing her former NHS employers for racial discrimination after claiming her line manager Roz Howie (right) called her ‘Nanook of the North’ for wrapping up in cold weather, in reference to 1922 documentary about Eskimos, a tribunal has heard

In a statement to an employment tribunal she said: ‘Over the course of my employment on several occasions, Roz Howie referred to me as ‘Nanook from the North’ in reference to me wearing gloves and a fur-lined cap during inclement weather.

‘On at least three occasions she ‘joked’ ‘it’s Nanook from the North’ as I walked in and I found it annoying and derogatory.

‘The fact that [Ms Howie] used the term on several occasions was intended, in my view, to demean and embarrass me.’

A preliminary hearing in Nottingham heard it was ‘usually said in the mornings when other people were present and it made her feel undermined’.

Ms Howie – who no longer works for the CCG – was also alleged to have made Ms Akinyosoye-Rodney feel ‘uncomfortable’ by telling her that she could not spell her name.

Ms Akinyosoye-Rodney even alleges Ms Howie asked her if she was ‘aggressive because of her culture’, which she argues amounted to ‘subconscious discrimination’.

Ms Akinyosoye-Rodney told a tribunal that Ms Howie’s comments comparing her to Nanook from the 1922 documentary Nanook of the North were intended to ‘demean and embarrass’

The tribunal heard that a CCG investigation revealed that Ms Howie ‘could not recall’ making comments about Ms Akinyosoye-Rodney’s name but ‘it would be something she could say’.

The investigation also found that ‘even if Ms Howie genuinely believed she was being supportive’, her repeated comments ‘could have lent themselves to painting a picture that Ms Akinyosoye-Rodney interpreted as racial profiling, harassment and even bullying’.

It added ‘the impact of low level jibes or jokes, would build up over time into a situation that was very uncomfortable to the subject of such comments’ and that ‘highlighting the foreignness of a name’ would have caused offence regardless of intent.

Ms Akinyosoye-Rodney claims she was the target of a ‘witch hunt’ at the CCG, was ‘forced out’ and didn’t apply for the role of head of personalised care due to her discrimination.

Employment Judge Rachel Broughton ruled that the Nanook of the North comment can form part of Ms Akinyosoye-Rodney’s racial discrimination claim at a full tribunal.

Nottingham City CCG disputes the claims which will be aired in more detail at a later hearing.

Nanook of the North and the controversy surrounding 1922 film

A poster for the 1922 documentary film Nanook of the North by Robert J. Flaherty

Nanook of the North is a silent documentary film made in 1922 by filmmaker Robert J. Flaherty.

Flaherty set out to capture the struggles of indigenous Inuit people surviving in the harsh climate of northern Quebec, Canada.

The Inuit people are a group of culturally similar indigenous people inhabiting the Arctic regions of Greenland, Canada and Alaska. 

The film focuses on Nanook and his family who live in the Canadian Arctic.

It was regarded as groundbreaking at the time largely due to its scale setting it apart from any similar works that had come before it.

Praised almost unanimously by critics at the time, it captured many authentic details of a culture little known to outsiders, and it was filmed in a remote location. 

However, Flaherty later came under fire for deceptively portraying staged events as reality including renaming its central figure whose real name was Allakariallak and not Nanook.

Among other controversies, the film also concluded by telling viewers that Nanook died of starvation less than two years after the film was made when in fact, he died at home most likely from tuberculosis. 

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