Family sue Sainsbury’s for £½m over ‘racist’ murder of shelf-stacker son

THE family of a man murdered by a colleague is claiming £500,000 damages from the supermarket where they both worked.Roman Romasov’s parents and brother allege that J Sainsbury plc knew that the killer had made racist comments, but had taken no action and was liable for his conduct.

The retail giant insists that Robert McCulloch’s behaviour had nothing to do with his employment and, therefore, was nothing for which they could be held responsible.

A judge heard legal argument in the case at the Court of Session in Edinburgh yesterday, and will rule later on whether the action should be dismissed or allowed to proceed.

In 2009, McCulloch, 35, of Farmer’s Hall, Aberdeen, admitted stabbing and murdering Mr Romasov, 28, also of Aberdeen, in the Sainsbury’s store in the city’s Berryden Road where they worked as shelf-stackers on the night shift. He was jailed for life and ordered to serve at least ten years.

Jelena Vaickuviene, 54, and Edmundus Vaickus, 54, the dead man’s mother and stepfather, and Martynus Vaickus, his halfbrother, all of Klaipeda, Lithuania, claimed that Sainsbury’s had vicarious liability for McCulloch under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. They said that McCulloch was a member of the British National Party and known to hold extreme and racist views about eastern European workers coming to the United Kingdom.

“He had frequently made racist comments in the past and was aggressive and argumentative. There had been bad blood between him and the deceased for some time,” said the family’s lawyers. An incident between them occurred a few days before the murder, when McCulloch racially abused Mr Romasov and told him he did not like immigrants and that he should go back to his own country. Mr Romasov wrote a letter of complaint to his line manager.

“There had been no action in the intervening days to dismiss McCulloch, or suspend him, or to warn him formally as to his conduct, or to ensure that the two men were not on shift together,” the family added.

On the night of the murder, the pair clashed verbally during a break in the canteen, and punches were thrown later in a confrontation in the staff toilets.

McCulloch took a knife from the kitchenware section of the store and attacked Mr Romasov in one of the aisles, inflicting fatal wounds. Mr Romasov had taken the supermarket job to fund his studies and send money home to his family.

Denying liability, Sainsbury’s stated: “The murder of a person does not fall within the definition of harassment in terms ofthe 1997 Act.

“The actings of Robert McCulloch were not related to the business of (the company) or his job duties. There was no connection between those actings and Mr McCulloch’s employment… they were outwith the course of his employment and (the company) are not vicariously liable.”