An employment tribunal has found former Crawley Town manager John Yems guilty of racially harassing midfielder Amrit Bansal-McNulty on three separate occasions during the 2021/22 season.
The ruling, released on Monday, determined that Crawley Town bears vicarious liability for Yems' behaviour, which occurred while he was employed by the club between 2019 and 2022.
Bansal-McNulty, a former Northern Ireland Under-21 international whose father is Indian and mother is Irish, was on loan at Crawley from Queens Park Rangers when the incidents took place.
The 26-year-old had brought claims of direct racial and religious discrimination alongside harassment allegations, though only the three harassment claims succeeded.
Amrit Bansal-McNulty was racially harassed on three separate occasions
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Among the upheld allegations was Yems referring to the midfielder as a "curry muncher" and subsequently questioning whether he was disappointed that sponsor-provided pizzas did not include a "curry pizza" option.
The tribunal noted that Yems had attempted to dismiss such comments as mere "banter".
However, the panel rejected this characterisation, finding the remarks constituted racial harassment.
All other harassment claims brought against the 66-year-old former manager were unsuccessful and dismissed by the tribunal.
Similarly, Bansal-McNulty's claims of direct racial and religious discrimination against Yems did not succeed and were also thrown out.
Bansal-McNulty is now pursuing approximately £12 million in damages, claiming the abuse he endured resulted in psychiatric harm and brought his football career to a premature end.
John Yems had attempted to dismiss such comments as mere "banter"
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The case was heard over 30 days at the London Employment Tribunal, where the former midfielder also pursued claims against QPR, the club he joined aged 14 in 2014.
However, those claims were unsuccessful and dismissed by the panel.
He departed QPR in 2022 without ever making a first-team appearance following several loan spells elsewhere.
The upcoming remedy hearing will proceed with only Yems and Crawley Town as respondents.
Yems completed a three-year suspension in January, the longest discrimination ban ever issued by the Football Association, after being found guilty of 11 charges relating to his time at Crawley. The original sanction of 17 months was extended following an FA appeal, though four charges were dismissed and the initial commission concluded he was "not a conscious racist".
In its closing observations, the tribunal stated: "Unfortunately there are no real winners in this case. Whilst the Claimant has been partially successful in his claims against Mr Yems, and vicariously Crawley Town, his claims against QPR have failed. Mr Yems has not, and realistically was never going to, obtain the exoneration of his conduct and character he was seeking."
Bansal-McNulty has not played professionally since leaving QPR.