Delana Gregoire enjoyed her job. She was experienced, respected and popular. But her world was shattered after a colleague branded her a racist.

The allegations were eventually withdrawn. But not before they had caused seven months of hell, which Mrs Gregoire believes triggered a mild heart attack.

Mrs Gregoire, of Semley Road, Hassocks, told The Argus how she became the victim of a hate campaign, which she believes was helped by a legal system weighted against her.

She said: "It was seven months of sheer hell. Awful, unbelievable because I thought it was my fault and yet I knew it wasn't."

Mrs Gregoire is a secretary at a firm of London solicitors. A senior member of the administrative staff, she liked her colleagues and clients.

Then a new woman, Miss L, joined the firm. After a couple of years, problems began to arise.

Mrs Gregoire said: "We never really got on. She would goad me and we had many disagreements and rows but I stood up to her and she didn't like it.

"One day she rounded on me and said 'I'm sick of you, you bitch'. She was screaming. I said 'How dare you speak to me like that?' I told her she was so thick-skinned she reminded me of a rhino."

The comment, made in the heat of the moment, came back to haunt Mrs Gregoire.

Shortly after Miss L left the firm, a letter arrived accusing Mrs Gregoire of racism. The woman had obtained representation and was bringing a case for constructive dismissal against Mrs Gregoire's employers.

She also wanted to make Mrs Gregoire a defendant in the proceedings, accusing her of racism.

Mrs Gregoire, 57, said: "There is no question of my being a racist. I'm half Chinese myself. Two of my best friends are Jamaican and Barbadian."

Stunned by the allegations, Mrs Gregoire turned to her son Peter, a reinsurance lawyer.

Mr Gregoire, 30, said: "This woman had found it acceptable to threaten to slap my mother and call her names like 'witch' and 'evil'.

But she asserted Mum's response of 'you have the manners of a guttersnipe' was racially motivated. The allegations of physical abuse were complete fabrications and thrown in for nothing more than good measure.

"All the allegations were completely ridiculous but they kept coming. Mum was terribly hurt and financially this was likely to cripple us. But this other woman was getting free representation from the publicly-funded Racial Discrimination Unit (RDU)."

Mr Gregoire called in a barrister friend who agreed to help for a fraction of his usual fee.

Her son said: "These allegations would never have been brought in a court which operates the 'loser pays' principle."

As the months passed, Mrs Gregoire became more and more distressed by the allegations she was being forced to answer.

She said: "I felt I was floating on this terrible cloud of numbness. I had always had a very healthy respect for the law. I had never come across a system like this. I was the victim but I was the one who felt vulnerable and exposed.

"My firm were very, very good but I began to read things into situations that were not there.

"I suffered all the symptoms of stress: Blinding headaches and rashes. I couldn't sleep. I wanted to emigrate."

When the case finally came before the employment tribunal in October last year, the tribunal first decided to reverse an earlier decision that had joined Mrs Gregoire as a defendant.

Miss L's lawyers then decided to withdraw every allegation of racism against the firm and the application was dismissed in full.

Mrs Gregoire said: "As they delivered the verdict, I had been gripping Peter's shoulder and I finally let go. I was so relieved I gave the barrister a big kiss."

However, the euphoria was soon replaced by a feeling that Miss L had somehow got away with putting them through months of hell.

Mrs Gregoire said: "This woman played the race card. She milked the system and, in doing so, put me through months of torment."

A few weeks ago Mrs Gregoire suffered a mild heart attack. She has no doubt it was prompted by the stress of the case.

She said: "I wouldn't want anyone to go through what we have been through."

Mr Gregoire said: "I feel ashamed that a legal system designed to prevent racism has actually been used to try to ferment it."

The Department for Trade and Industry, which is responsible for employment tribunals, said they were aware of the strain on both applicants and respondents involved in a hearing.

Mrs Gregoire has twice written to the RDU to complain. She has received no reply. No one was available for comment.