A Bradford hair stylist has won a £9,000 payout from her former bosses after a tribunal found she had been the victim of race discrimination.

Dawn Harriett, 36, from Little Horton, was accused of ''doing Afro Caribbean customers at home'' during her maternity leave by her regional manager Alison Povall.

And the company was "totally unsympathetic" when Miss Harriett needed a day off to take her parents to the airport when they emigrated to Jamaica, the tribunal ruled.

Miss Harriett, who is of Afro-Caribbean origin, was manageress of the Hair Express Salon at the Asda store at Dudley Hill, a post she held since 1991. The salon is one of 350 nationwide run by Regis Europe Ltd, which also operates salons in department stores under the names of Glemby, Essanelle and Hairworks.

Miss Harriett was the only black member of staff at the salon and the only salon manager working for the company's Northern region of black or Afro-Caribbean origin.

Miss Harriett says the problems began just before she went on maternity leave in March 1998.

It was suggested to her that on her return, she would not be able to cope and would be better off as deputy manageress - a suggestion she found insulting.

Later her regional manager Alison Povall reported that she was "doing Afro-Caribbean customers at home" during maternity leave.

And in November when she wanted a day off to take her parents to the airport, she was told to pay the travel expenses of another salon manager who had to come from Sheffield to cover.

The tribunal described this response as "at best totally unsympathetic" and "certainly outside the normal procedures and contractual terms that applied to the applicant's employment".

In an 11-page decision published today, the tribunal ruled that Miss Harriett was subjected to continuous race discrimination from March 1998 to January 1999, when she resigned her post. Her claim of unfair dismissal was upheld although her claim of sex discrimination was rejected.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.