Chelsy Davy's husband claimed receptionist had 'paranoid delusion'

Chelsy Davy's husband has been slated by a judge for labelling a receptionist at the hotel he runs as suffering from 'paranoid delusion' after she complained of repeated racism. 

Sam Cutmore-Scott, who married Prince Harry's ex two years ago, was accused of carrying out a 'character assassination' of Georgia Sylvester after she reported the harassment.

Miss Sylvester, who is of mixed race, is now in line for a significant payout after an employment tribunal found she had been targeted. 

She complained that the Oxford-educated businessman's £280-a-night boutique hotel in Norfolk was beset by 'institutionalised racism'.

Concerns she raised included one manager saying he wanted 'every f****** foreigner out of the country' and another using the offensive phrase 'n***** in the woodpile'. But they were 'dismissed out of hand' by hotel managers, with one telling Miss Sylvester she was 'not dark enough to be offended'.

The employment panel slammed 50-year-old Old Etonian Mr Cutmore-Scott's attack on her mental stability as untrue and 'incredibly hostile'.

Mr Cutmore-Scott has two children with Ms Davy, 38, who dated Harry for seven years. 

Single mother Miss Sylvester began working at The Harper hotel in 2021. In November that year she complained that the bar manager had said: 'I want every f****** foreigner out of the country.'

Mr Cutmore-Scott told the tribunal in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, that the matter was dealt with 'promptly and properly', but the panel found there was no investigation and the man left 'of his own choice'. 

The tribunal also heard that a manager told Miss Sylvester: 'I don't see why you're getting so upset. You're not dark enough to be offended.' 

Miss Sylvester lost out on a promotion the following year. Mr Cutmore-Scott claimed she was not up to the job as he thought her 'unstable' and 'suffering from a paranoid delusion disorder'.

That latter claim was withdrawn during the four-day hearing after the panel said there was 'no truth' in it.

In July 2022, hotel manager John Holmes said to Miss Sylvester that 'all blacks' are drug users. When he was challenged when he referred to a group of guests on another day as 'the blacks', he said: 'I don't bloody know what they are meant to be called nowadays.'

In March 2023, Mr Holmes allegedly used the 'n***** in the woodpile' phrase which Miss Sylvester said no one would use 'unless they wanted to cause offence'. Mr Holmes denied using the term but the tribunal found it had been said.

They called the investigation into her grievances a 'sham' and found she had been the victim of race discrimination and harassment. A complaint of victimisation succeeded 'in part'. 

Employment judge Mark Graham said Mr Cutmore-Scott had attempted a 'character assassination' of Miss Sylvester, adding his descriptions were 'untrue' and 'appeared incredibly hostile'.

The date for a compensation hearing has yet to be set.