The mother of comedian Richard Blackwood has claimed a prestigious central London hotel did not recruit black staff to work in front-of-house positions where they would be "visible to the public."Juliette Giscombe, 57, is suing the Hilton Hotel chain after claiming she suffered racial discrimination while working at the Park Lane branch.
The mother of two from Streatham, south London, is also claiming she was constructively dismissed from her job as telephonist at the hotel where she had worked for 10 years.
She broke down while giving evidence to an employment tribunal in central London where she is claiming she was ignored for promotion.
Jamaican-born Mrs Giscombe, who started working at the hotel in 1999, said she believed that black staff were purposely not placed in front-of-house positions.
She explained: "My observation of my time there was that the respondents did not recruit black staff to the front-of-house positions where they would be visible to the public.
"During the period of time I was complaining, there were no senior black members of staff in front-of-house positions."
Mrs Giscombe acknowledged that this position had since changed.
But she said that working conditions had resulted in her being signed off work for months with depression and ill health.
She also claimed another member of staff had "used abusive language" against her.
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