allaboutwomen

An Australian man employed by Kent County Council is suing the authority because his colleagues would greet him with "G'day sport!" and he claims this is racist.

Geoff Stephens says the "racism" has left him on "a cocktail of anti-depressants".

Mr Stephens, 48, works for Kent County Council as a community warden in the village of Dymchurch. He has lived in the UK for 26 years. He says the "racial abuse" includes constant jokes about Australia and the stress of listening to them will "eventually kill him". He said that he has asked his colleagues to stop the jokes, but they refused.

Along with "G'day sport!" they kept asking him if his girlfriend is named Sheila and joked about kangaroos. He has been on sick leave for the past six months, suffering from depression. He is receiving counselling and has been prescribed drugs.

Mr Stephens was part of a team that fights anti-social behaviour, but claims he is now the victim of it. Part of his job has been setting up youth clubs to give teenagers things to do instead of getting into trouble.

He used to be an immigration officer at the Port of Dover.

He said: "I'm now on a cocktail of medication. I've only been able to sleep for three hours a night since August, and the physical and mental exhaustion will eventually kill me. I feel like my life has been ripped apart. I loved my job with a passion and I did a lot of good work. I built up a good rapport with the local youths, but the village will now suffer from not having a regular community warden in place.

"I read about the growing anti-social problems, and I believe it's got worse since I left my job."