SWNS
A bank has apologised to a mother of two after a member of staff made an insulting remark about her ginger hair.
Laura Payton, 32, from Wolverhampton, was at her local Halifax branch when a photo of her daughter Beth, three, flashed up on her phone. She was stunned when a worker in the bank saw the photo and said: "I bet your daughter is glad she doesn't have ginger hair like you."
Laura, who is also mum to baby Flinn, left the bank stunned by the remarks, but later called to make a complaint saying they were 'completely unacceptable' and branding the worker's remarks 'a form of racism'.
After initially being offered £25 in compensation, Halifax has now paid Laura £150 and issued an apology.
"A picture of my daughter flashed up on my mobile phone, she looked at it and said 'I bet she's glad she doesn't have ginger hair like you,'" explains Laura, who works for BT.
"It didn't really register properly as first but when I got to work it was clear that she shouldn't have said what she did. I was furious.
SWNS
"It was an insult to be offered £25 as compensation at first - but it's not about the money particularly, it's just the principle. I don't feel like my complaint has been taken seriously enough, I feel like I've essentially experienced a form of racism.
"My husband and I have talked about legal action, but what I really want is a proper apology from the top, not just a generic letter. I was teased as a child about my hair but you don't expect that from someone working in a professional capacity.
"If I did something like that at work I'd be out on my ear."
In a letter, Halifax complaint handler Matthew Kay apologised and said: "The comment made was totally inappropriate and I agree this shouldn't have been said."
Although Laura no longer uses the particular branch of Halifax, she has walked past the bank several times and has seen the employee in question still working.
No one from Halifax was available for comment.
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