Hair stylist Dawn Harriett, awarded £9,000 for racial discrimination, says her confidence is shattered.

She left Bradford College in 1987 for her first job as stylist at the Hair Express Salon at Asda, Dudley Hill.

She was the only black member of staff there, but she got on well with the other stylists.

As the years passed, she was promoted to deputy manageress and then in 1991 made manageress by the salon's owners, Regis Europe Ltd.

"I was at the company for eleven and a half years, I had a good, regular clientele," she recalls. "If I hadn't been happy there I would not have stayed all that time."

She puts the problems down to racism from a boss. "I was the only black manager, I spoke to other white managers - they weren't encountering the harassment I was getting and some of the other salons were doing worse than mine." Things started going wrong in early 1998 when she fell pregnant.

It started with a suggestion from her regional manager that when she returned to work after having the baby she might cope better as deputy than being in the manager's job.

Later she was told by her boss that, to get a day off to take her parents to the airport, she would have to pay the travel expenses of another manager.

Two months later she had had enough and handed in her notice.

She went to the Northern Complainant Aid Fund (NCAF) for help and they represented her at the Leeds industrial tribunal. The panel upheld her claim of constructive dismissal and racial discrimination and awarded her £9,000.

She lives in Little Horton with her partner Jarvis and 18-month-old daughter Monique - but is still out of work. "This has put me off," she said. "It's nice to get this money, but at the end of the day it doesn't compensate for what I have been through. I hope my story will help other people who may be going through the same thing - they are not on their own."

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