Chelsy Davy’s husband accused race-row receptionist of suffering ‘paranoid delusion disorder’

Sam Cutmore-Scott’s family firm successfully sued for race discrimination and harassment at his hotel

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Chelsy Davy’s husband claimed a receptionist working at his hotel was suffering from a “paranoid delusion disorder” after she accused his business of racial discrimination.
Sam Cutmore-Scott, who has been married to the Duke of Sussex’s former partner for two years, was accused of mounting a “character assassination” against Georgia Sylvester following her claims of “institutionalised racism” at the Harper Hotel in Langham.
Over the course of her two-year employment, Ms Sylvester, who is mixed race, was subjected to a litany of racist comments including being told she was “not dark enough to be offended” and use of the n-word.
Ms Sylvester will now be awarded compensation after successfully suing Mr Cutmore-Scott’s family firm, Notley Abbey Ltd, for race discrimination and harassment.
The hearing was told Ms Sylvester had joined the hotel in June 2021. Five months later, she made her first complaint to senior managers that a member of the bar staff had told her: “I want every f—— foreigner out of the country.” When the man was challenged, he replied: “I’ll call them whatever I want.”
Mr Cutmore-Scott, who is the firm’s managing director, told the tribunal that Ms Sylvester’s complaint had been dealt with “promptly and properly” and the man had been given a warning and had left the hotel’s employment after the incident.
This was rejected by the panel after it found no investigation had been conducted and the perpetrator had not been disciplined.
The tribunal also heard that a female reception manager had told Ms Sylvester: “I don’t see why you’re getting so upset, you’re not dark enough to be offended.”
When this manager left the following year, it was said that Ms Sylvester was passed over to fill her position, which was later filled by a white employee.
Defending his staffing decision, Mr Cutmore-Scott claimed there were issues with her performance. He told the tribunal: “[She] was a managerial challenge, she was unstable and needed constant emotional support, she had complicated romantic entanglements with team members, her childcare impacted her ability to do her job, her mental health made her difficult to rely upon.
“She was erratic and unpredictable… she was suffering from a paranoid delusion disorder.”
Mark Graham, the employment judge, ruled that failure to promote Ms Sylvester to the role of reception manager was discriminatory.
“The description of [Miss Sylvester’s] performance as provided by Mr Cutmore-Scott amounted to an attempt at character assassination,” he said. “Not only were these descriptions untrue… they appeared incredibly hostile.”
Mr Cutmore-Scott later withdrew his “paranoid delusion” comment.
During her employment at the hotel, there were repeated complaints against John Holmes, the hotel manager, for incidents of racist language.
It was heard that in July 2022, after hotel guests had been found using drugs, Mr Holmes told Ms Sylvester that “all blacks” are drug users. When challenged by Ms Sylvester, he said: “I don’t bloody know what they are meant to be called nowadays.”
The next year, Mr Holmes was heard to say the phrase “n—– in the woodpile” to Ms Sylvester. The remark caused her to have a panic attack and hyperventilate.
“I should be clear that I did not know what the phrase meant at the time,” she said. “However, I have always understood the word to be an extremely offensive slur, which almost nobody uses these days because of how offensive it is.
“It is the one word that I would have expected everyone to know you can use that is going to cause havoc. No one in their right mind would use that one word against the only black person in the building unless they specifically wanted to cause offence.”
Mr Holmes denied making the remark, but again management did not investigate her complaint. The tribunal rejected Mr Holmes’s version of events, concluding he had made the remark in the full knowledge it would cause offence.
Judge Graham concluded: “The explanation provided by [Notley Abbey Ltd] was unreliable and inconsistent…it has failed to persuade us that [her] race played no part whatsoever in the treatment complained of.
“We have found that [Ms Sylvester] was subjected to repeated acts of harassment related to race and despite complaining about them at the time to various managers, no meaningful steps were taken to deal with those complaints or to protect [her] from further such acts.
“Whereas [the hotel’s] policy provided for equality and diversity training for managers, no one attempted to implement it. Mr Cutmore-Scott proceeded on the basis that if he or his family were on site then that was sufficient. Clearly that proved not to be the case.”
Ms Sylvester’s compensation will be decided at a later date.
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