Rastafarian soldier wins racism case against army after abuse | UK News

A soldier who was forced to quit after he was subjected to racism by his colleagues has won a claim of discrimination against the Ministry of Defence.

Dwight Pile-Gray, 55, faced derogatory comments about the colour of his skin throughout his 16-year career in the British Army.

When he became one of the first Rastafarian guardsman to join up in 2005, Mr Pile-Gray admitted he was ‘under no illusion’ about ‘what he might encounter’ but was ‘full of optimism’.

‘Why are you allowed to wear your hair like that?’ other guards would ask him. ‘Aren’t you a pacifist? Don’t you smoke drugs?’

Soldiers even used the N-word in front of him, among other racially offensive slurs, and asked him racist questions including about the size of his genitals.

Despite what Mr Pile-Gray described as ‘ignorance’, it didn’t stop him enjoying his job or rising through the ranks to lance sergeant.

But when a row broke out in July 2021 with a white guard who didn’t believe he was a soldier, it was ‘the straw that broke the camel’s back’.

It was the way that argument was dealt with by the army that led him to eventually quit and take his case to an employment tribunal.

The hearing ruled earlier this year that he was racially discriminated against, harassed and victimised, reports the BBC.

Following the tribunal, the Ministry of Defence said its position is ‘very clear’. ‘We do not tolerate abuse, bullying or discrimination of any kind,’ a spokesman said.

‘All allegations of unacceptable behaviour are taken extremely seriously and are thoroughly investigated. If proven, swift action will be taken.’

Mr Pile-Gray reached breaking point during an incident at Wellington Barracks in London after leaving the camp to make a phone call following a medical appointment.

When he realised he’d mistakenly left his ID card behind, he tried to get back inside but the white lance corporal on duty, who was a junior rank to him, wouldn’t let him return.

Wearing civilian clothes and sunglasses with his locks on display, he said to the guard: ‘Sorry, mate. I’ve left my ID inside.’

The guard sarcastically replied: ‘Oh really?’ He then said to his colleagues in the guard room: ‘This gentleman thinks he’s left his ID in here. Does anyone know him?’

The protocol when a soldier forgets his ID is to send him into the guardroom where someone will vouch for him, reports The Times.

Mr Pile-Gray said the guard was ‘disbelieving that I could be a soldier’. He said: ‘I’ve been doing this a long time and I understand when there is a racial element to an interaction.’

After challenging the guard, Mr Pile-Gray was recognised by someone else and allowed back in.

He said he changed into his uniform and returned to show the lance corporal that he was indeed a soldier, as well as explain how the situation should have been handled better.

But the lance corporal accused him of ‘playing the race card’, which prompted another white soldier, a more senior sergeant, to intervene.

Mr Pile-Gray said the sergeant told him: ‘If you’re going to play the race card, I’m not going to speak to you.’

The conversation left him ‘completely flabbergasted’, Mr Pile-Gray said, which in-turn caused him to lose his temper before he was bundled out of the guardroom.

He approached an officer to explain the situation, who asked him if he wanted to make a complaint, but Mr Pile-Gray said he would rather attempt to mediate with his two colleagues. The officer agreed it was a good idea.

‘I was absolutely treated differently because of my appearance,’ he said. ‘They had no understanding or concept that what they were actually saying was racist.’

That mediation hearing never happened. And worse still, Mr Pile-Gray was then told he was in-fact going to face disciplinary action.

He was eventually given a formal charge of insubordination and at that point decided to leave the armed forces.

It was a bitter ending for a man who was the first Rastafarian soldier to be allowed to wear his hair in locks and had joined the army later in life than most at the age of 37.

A career as an accomplished musician with the Royal Corps of Army Music was over. His exploits saw him play the French horn in various military bands before joining the Band of the Grenadier Guards.

His service complaint to the army was rejected, leaving him with no other option than to take the matter to an employment tribunal if justice was in any way to be served.

Mr Pile-Gray believes the case shows it is worse to accuse someone of being racist in the army, than it is to actually be racist.

Emma Norton, from the Centre for Military Justice, who gave legal support to Mr Pile-Gray, said the army’s response fell woefully short, including during the litigation.

She said: ‘Not only did the chain of command fail to act on his concerns about racial bias, it then victimised and gas-lit him for having the temerity to complain about it.

‘It’s lost an excellent soldier in the process.’

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