A black soldier who was the British Army poster girl for diversity has received an apology and a ‘substantial’ payout after being subjected to racist and sexist abuse by her ‘Hitler-praising’ colleagues.
Kerry-Ann Knight, 33, was a representative of the Army’s Black and Minority Ethnic Network and featured on posters for a £1.5m military recruitment campaign.
But she went to an employment tribunal and accepted a substantial settlement from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) last month.
She secretly recorded conversations with colleagues who joked about lynching her.
Kerry-Ann Knight (pictured) suffered racist and sexist abuse at the hands of her colleagues
Kerry-Ann Knight, 33, was a representative of the Army’s Black and Minority Ethnic Network and featured on posters for a £1.5m military recruitment campaign
In one recording, laughter can be heard after a male soldier says: ‘Just **** tar and feather her, it’s what they used to do in the old days.’
At the tribunal, Ms Knight described how colleagues directed slurs about slavery at her.
She also claimed her colleagues praised Hitler and repeatedly targeted offensive racial language and stereotypes around her, such as shouting ‘watermelon’ when she walked into a room.
Ms Knight claims she had to serve alongside soldiers who claimed to support the Ku Klux Klan, Britain First and the English Defence League.
She also faced sexist abuse and harassment, such as being shown pictures of a colleague’s penis at a work event and being asked to comment on it.
Male soldiers reportedly shouted racially offensive insults followed by ‘I’d still shag you though’.
It is alleged that despite Ms Knight regularly raising complaints about the abuse she experienced to her superiors, no action was ever taken.
She claims her experiences left her feeling that the Army was ‘institutionally racist’.
Ms Knight and the MoD settled before a final judgement was made after the Army agreed to make a public apology.
The MoD said it ‘accepts that Mrs Knight had to work in an unacceptable organisational environment where she experienced racist and sexist harassment’.
But the MoD said this week it settled the claim with no admission of liability.
Ms Knight grew up in Nottingham and served in the Army for more than a decade.
She left as a corporal earlier this year, after launching an official service complaint.
Speaking to the BBC, she said: ‘I’d never encourage any woman, especially of colour, to join, because it’s not going to benefit your life in the long run.’
The racist and sexist abuse is said to have begun around 2012.
Ms Knight told the BBC that during one of her first postings to Germany, she was told to avoid a certain corridor as soldiers were openly displaying swastikas, Confederate flags and other racist symbols.
Also, a senior female solder reportedly reprimanded Ms Knight for the way she wore her hair in braids to go swimming during training, being told, ‘this isn’t the ghetto’.
A senior colleague physically assaulted her in 2013, motivated by racism, Ms Knight alleges.
In 2021, Ms Knight began working as the only black female instructor at the Army Foundation College in Harrogate.
This is where the Army trains 16 and 17-year-old junior soldiers.
But she claims several fellow white male instructors made it apparent that she wasn’t welcome.
People would shout ‘watermelon’ when she approached the office and she claims people would also play Django Unchained, a film about slavery, loudly in the office.
When she offered to make a round of hot drinks, one colleague replied he wanted his coffee ‘black and bitter – like my women’.
Images of Hitler and a photo of a man’s genitals were openly posted on a Whatsapp group for the instructors, of which she was a member.
In 2021, at a dinner in the officers’ mess, Ms Knight claims a fellow instructor aggressively shouted abuse in her face.
She said she raised concerns about racist and sexist incidents earlier in her career but she decided to launch an official service complaint instead.
This is when she started secretly recording some of the conversations taking place behind her back.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) provided funding and assistance to Kerry-Ann Knight, as part of its legal support scheme for race discrimination cases.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has announced that tackling discrimination, harassment and victimisation in the armed forces is a strategic priority for 2024-25.
The programme of work, which will also focus on police and fire services, aims to support change in these workplaces through guidance, training and enforcement action.
Baroness Kishwer Falkner, Chairwoman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said: ‘As one of the UK’s largest employers, and a public authority under the Equality Act, the British Army should be a standard-bearer when it comes to protecting their employees from discrimination.
Cpl Kerry Ann Knight on the front cover of The Locker magazine, printed on behalf of the British Army
‘Former Cpl Knight dedicated more than a decade of her life to serving her country, and was an inspiration to young soldiers in her roles as an instructor and a diversity group representative. It is such a shame that the Army has lost a talent like hers.
‘Many of the most recent recruits in the Army today will have joined after seeing Ms Knight’s face in a recruitment campaign. Like everyone else in the country, they have the legal right to be treated fairly regardless of who they are or what they look like.
‘The British Army workplace is unique, but that doesn’t lessen its responsibility to follow equality law. Employers should take note that permitting discrimination such as that faced by Ms Knight is never acceptable, and this case demonstrates our commitment to tackling it head-on wherever we find it.
‘I hope the settlement will allow Kerry-Ann to move on from this experience. As Britain’s equality watchdog, we will continue to use our unique powers to prevent discrimination in the workplace.’
Kerry-Ann Knight said: ‘I have been absolutely devastated by my treatment by the British Army.
‘I was so determined to make it work and help make the British Army a better place for women and black people, and so for everyone. But my experience eventually showed me that no matter what I did, I would never be accepted.
Emma Norton, solicitor for Kerry-Ann Knight, said: ‘The way the Army conducted itself throughout its internal complaints process and throughout this litigation is nothing short of shameful.
‘For the Army, it was not the racists that needed to be dealt with it, it was Kerry-Ann, because she’d had the audacity to complain about racism and misogyny.
‘It is all dreadfully familiar and shows that, in the British Army, it’s worse to accuse someone of racism than it is to be racist.’
Major General SL Humphris MBE, on behalf of the British Army, said in an apology sent to Kerry-Ann Knight: ‘As Director Personnel (Army) and a member of the Army Board, I sincerely apologise on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.
‘The Army accepts that you had to work in an unacceptable organisational environment where you experienced racist and sexist harassment. There was a failure within the Army in not responding properly to that environment or your complaints about it.
‘The Army wishes to apologise for the treatment you received. Your loss is a matter of regret.’
