London: A British Sikh man has been awarded over 18,000 pounds in compensation by a Scottish tribunal for being degraded and racially abused by his Muslim boss and colleagues at work. Paramjit Singh, a forecourt cleaner at a garage in the town of Greenock, Scotland, was called a "lazy low-caste Sikh" and forced to repeatedly carry out demeaning tasks. He was also abused for having a white British wife, with one co-worker saying: "I don't know how you can stay with a white woman. They're not clean and they don't know how to live," the Scottish Herald reported. The 39-year-old successfully sued PK Imperial Retail Limited for unfair dismissal and racial and religious discrimination at a tribunal in Glasgow and was awarded 7,162 pounds for unfair dismissal and a further 11,108 pounds in compensation under equality legislation.

The tribunal heard the garage was bought over by PK Imperial in September 2011, with Sohaib Riaz, the nephew of the owner, taking over as manager. He made the Indian-origin Sikh regularly repeat tasks two or three times. "Employment judge Mary Kearns said Singh's dismissal was 'an act of direct discrimination'," the judgement said. She said the treatment of Singh "upset and humiliated" him and was "thoroughly offensive". Solicitor Stephen Smith, of the Glasgow Law Practice, who represented PK Imperial, said: "Our clients were surprised at these claims and are naturally disappointed at the outcome of the tribunal. They are currently considering their options in relation to any appeal," Smith said. Singh, who was represented by Fox and Partners, said he was "very happy" with the outcome of the case.