A man who was sacked from Argos for gross misconduct claimed the company took the action because he was Afro-Caribbean, an employment tribunal heard.

Chris Fontaine, 37, took Argos to the tribunal on grounds of unfair dismissal and racial discrimination.

He was dismissed from his job as a senior sales supervisor at the Argos store in Bradford's Kirkgate Centre last May after having worked for the company for seven years.

Argos area manager Steve Gregory told the Leeds hearing that Mr Fontaine had been sacked because he abused a staff discount system which was eligible to immediate family only.

He said Mr Fontaine, of West Bowling, had made the discount available to non-immediate family members and asked a junior member of staff to process the transaction for him.

He described Mr Fontaine's actions as "a macho thing to impress his mates," and said it was a dismissible offence.

"My opinion is that he didn't misunderstand and he knew what the policy of immediate family was," he said.

Mr Fontaine told the hearing that it was "common practice" for workers to give staff discount to non-immediate family members and claimed that management were aware of it and did it themselves. He believed the system related to extended family.

Representing Mr Fontaine, Keith Russell from the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers said that on a previous occasion, a woman known only as Mrs S had received only a final written warning for a similar misconduct matter.

He told the hearing that Mr Fontaine had been sacked for the same offence because he was Afro-Caribbean.

Mr Gregory said he believed there had been circumstances surrounding the decision to give Mrs S a final written warning rather than a final dismissal.

"Race was not an issue and I couldn't find any evidence of race as an issue in the whole investigation," he said. He added that he had visited the store and spoken to six or so members of staff of different races who were aware of the 'immediate family' rule and what it meant and said they had never encountered any race discrimination at Argos.

Mr Fontaine said: "I was the only black person on the senior sales team and I believe management have been trying to dismiss me for a number of years. Previous allegations made against me were proved to be wrong."

He cited four occasions when he had been disciplined at work and said that on all four occasions the allegations had been withdrawn.

"The stereotype of a young, black criminal was being taken out against me," he said.

Representing Argos, Duncan Clarke said: "He (Mr Fontaine) couldn't identify in evidence who was discriminating against him - in fact he seems to have come to the conclusion that they (managers) were colluding against him. I find that not credible."

The employment tribunal panel reserved their decision on the matter and told parties they would be informed in writing.