Nigerian sacked for operating on ‘African time’ wins discrimination claim against US firm

Tolulope Fayokun, a Nigerian lady who worked at Johnson & Johnson, a US pharmaceutical firm, has won a racial discrimination claim against the company after she was sacked for operating on “African time”. 

The tribunal in Reading ruled that Fayokun was unfairly “racially profiled” and will be compensated.

The hearing was told that Fayokun, a dual British-Nigerian national, had started at the company as a senior manager in 2017 and that initially, bosses had praised her for demonstrating strong leadership.

Appearing before an employment tribunal, Fayokun narrated how Alessandra Toro, director for strategic insights and analytics at Johnson & Johnson, told her that she exhibited “Nigerian traits”.

Toro was said to have originally had a good relationship with Fayokun and they were said to have exchanged gifts and discussed personal matters.

Toro allegedly told Fayokun that she operated on “African time”, suggesting that she did not meet work deadlines at specific periods allotted.

She said her manager told her that she had researched Nigerian workplaces and found that they were “fluid”, a euphemism for “any-howness” or “disorganisation”.

It was on this premise Fayokun was sacked in 2020 from the company. She commenced work at the company in 2017 as a senior manager.

She said the sack came shortly after she confronted Toro on some of the issues.

Thereafter, she sued the company.

In her defence, Toro was quoted as telling the tribunal that: “The fact that the Nigerian working profile was fluid was in contrast to my personal fixed preferences, meaning that whereas I see deadlines as fixed and set in stone, this indicated to me that I should not adopt or assume the same approach with someone who identified with a Nigerian work style”.

After hearing the case, Andrew Gumbiti-Zimuto, the judge, found that Fayokun was “unfairly racially profiled”.

“[The tribunal was satisfied that Fayokun] could reasonably consider that she was disadvantaged in the workplace by reason of being told that this exercise had been carried out and was being actively used to manage her,” Gumbiti-Zimuto ruled.

Fayokun’s compensation will be decided in another hearing.