E-mail this to a friend
Print this
Police officer has won his claim of victimisation against the Met Police
10 October 2007
Gurpal Virdi, a Metropolitan Police Officer, has won his employment tribunal claim of victimisation against his current employer. The Central London Employment Tribunal found that Mr Virdi was treated differently from other officers who applied for promotion because he had previously made a successful race discrimination claim against the force.
Mr Virdi joined the Metropolitan Police Force on 10 May 1982 as a police constable. He is now a Detective Sergeant but has not had smooth employment with the force. In August 2000 Mr Virdi won a claim of race discrimination against the Metropolitan Police Service following his dismissal from duty. He was reinstated in November 2000 and recommenced duties in February 2002.
After receiving mentoring and strong support from senior officers it was agreed Mr Virdi should aim for promotion to Detective Inspector. He therefore applied to the forces workplace assessment initiative. Mr Virdi’s application was endorsed by his line manager and it was agreed he satisfied all the criteria set out in the relevant guidance. However Mr Virdi’s application was then rejected by a review panel. He appealed this decision but this was also rejected.
The Employment Tribunal found that there was no doubt that Mr Virdi and his application to join the initiative was treated differently to somebody who had not previously made a claim against the force – which a number of the witnesses for the Metropolitan Police freely admitted. The tribunal stated that the “appeal panel, at the very least subconsciously, was affected by their knowledge of the Claimant and the action he had taken.”
Responses to the judgment:
Arpita Dutt, Mr Virdi's solicitor, from the award-winning Employment Law Team at Russell Jones & Walker, comments:
“I am pleased that Mr Virdi has won his hard fought claim of victimisation against the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS). He has paid a heavy price because of a previous claim he brought and won against the force over 7 years ago. He experienced this victimisation through the actions/omissions of senior officers in the MPS. Their actions blocked my client’s career progression. I could say that lessons should be learned but it is difficult to say this with any conviction given the number of enquiries, reports and recommendations that the MPS have been subjected to in recent times. It is important however that the MPS sends out a clear message to its staff and officers that victimisation will not be tolerated and those that have genuine claims of discrimination will be supported.”