An NHS manager who claimed that everyone north of Watford is racist was told his complaints of race discrimination were not well-founded.

Olufemi Obilieye was sacked from his role as a senior contracts and performance manager at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation near Belsize Park in north London, after accusing a colleague of racism because “everybody who came from the north of Watford is racist”.

An employment tribunal investigated Mr Obilieye’s claims on February 12, 2020 that he was unfairly dismissed and racially discriminated when dismissed from work without notice.

Mr Obilieye’s was dismissed for his north of Watford statement, and making colleagues uncomfortable by hugging them against their wishes and repeatedly asking whether he should kiss a colleague.

The former performance manager then claimed that the NHS trust wanted to get rid of him because of his race.

His colleague Drew Davies was the one accused of being racist because he was from the north, and a meeting was arranged after Mr Davies objected the statement.

The tribunal said: “At the meeting Mr Obilieye accepted that he had made the comment on the basis that 'everybody who came from north of Watford was racist.’ He then apologised to Mr Davies who accepted the apology.”

Following the claims, employment judge Harjit Grewal concluded he was not sacked due to race discrimination.

She said: “Mr Obilieye’s case in essence was that Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust went through all these processes because it wanted to get rid of him because of race. All the evidence before us pointed in the other direction.”