A Tesco worker sued the supermarket giant for race discrimination after being told he looked like Tommy Cooper – because he wore a distinctive Fez to work.
Kester Charles Bey took the supermarket giant to an employment tribunal over comparisons to the popular TV comedian and magician of the 1970s.
The entertainer wore a Fez – a red felt tasselled hat associated with Morocco – when on stage.
And Mr Bey, who is an independent councillor for Woodley Town Council, in Berkshire, claimed that describing him as looking like Cooper was both religious and racial harassment because of his ‘Moorish’ background.
But – ‘just like that’ – his discrimination case was dismissed with an employment judge ruling it had no chance of succeeding.
The preliminary hearing in Watford was told Mr Bey had worked for Tesco for more than two years when he resigned in May 2023.
Representing himself, he told the tribunal he was frustrated at the lack of training he was given and that having been declared competent by one boss had been told to retrain by another.
Mr Bey, from Reading, also claimed to have been the victim of harassment because of his Fez.
Kester Charles Bey sued Tesco for race discrimination after being told he looked like Tommy Cooper – because he wore a distinctive Fez to work
Tommy Cooper, a renowned comedian and magician of the 1970s, wore a Fez – a red felt tasselled hat associated with Morocco – when on stage
‘He felt that he had been held back by not getting training for a second skill, that management had picked on him about competency issues, and that he had been subject to some harassment related to his protected characteristics of race and religion,’ Employment Judge Paul Housego said.
‘He describes himself as Moorish, and always wears a Fez. He says this is connected with both race and his religion [Muslim].
‘He says that it was harassment to describe him as looking like Tommy Cooper (a comedian and magician from the 1960’s who always wore one).’
After resigning, Mr Bey launched legal action against the supermarket in October 2023 – beyond the time limit for most tribunal claims – and filed a more detailed complaint a year later.
However, EJ Housego said the documents he supplied ‘do not disclose any arguable case’ and do not mention the Fez allegations.
‘The claim about lack of training for a second skill could be argued as a breach of mutual trust and confidence, and so support a claim of constructive dismissal,’ EJ Housego conceded before striking it out for being too late.
‘Mr Bey could not suggest any reason why this was connected with race or religion, and so the claim of race discrimination and religion or belief discrimination has no reasonable prospect of success.
‘It is also out of time, and there is nothing in what Mr Bey said that could lead to a conclusion that it was just and equitable to extend time.
Watford Employment Tribunal (pictured) found against Mr Bey’s claim for discrimination
‘The harassment claim did not have any dates or names attached to it. It is unconnected with training or competence issues, and so is even more out of time.
‘Before a claim is struck out the judge must try to find out what it is. I have done my very best to do so, but could get no further than this.
‘There is a limit to what a judge is expected to do for a litigant in person, and I have exceeded that limit in my efforts to help Mr Bey. For these reasons I strike out Mr Bey’s claims.’
Mr Bey’s additional claims of unfair dismissal and disability discrimination were also thrown out.
Tommy Cooper – whose act portrayed him as the conjurer whose tricks never succeeded – rose to national prominence in the 1960s when he started to appear on television.
He enjoyed a 40 year career and during the mid-1970s was one of the most recognisable comedians in the world.
On 15 April 1984, Cooper – whose catchphrase was ‘just like that’ – collapsed from a heart attack in front of 12 million television viewers midway through his act and subsequently died.