The Edinburgh Employment Tribunal today ruled that Angus Council must pay Mr Ahsan Khan £26,000 after it found that the Council had discriminated against him because of his race.
In April 2006 Mr Khan applied for the job of Head of Housing at Angus Council. He met the necessary criteria for the job and, the Council admitted, would have interviewed well for the job.
However, in the middle of the short listing exercise, Angus Council changed the person specification and Mr Khan was not short listed. The successful applicant, who was personally known to at least one Council official involved in short listing, did not meet the new person specification, but was short listed and given the job regardless.
The Tribunal found that the Council had conspicuously failed to follow the statutory Code of Practice issued by the CRE. Importantly, applications were not anonymised so it was obvious who was applying and what racial background they might have, and personal knowledge of applicants was used when short listing. When asked why they had failed to follow the Code, Council officials' evidence was found to suggest “a contempt for such matters”.
The Tribunal also found that the Council had refused to reply in a reasonable manner to a statutory questionnaire which had been sent to them. Their replies were “evasive and equivocal” and the time taken to respond was “unreasonable and unnecessary”. The evidence given as to why they had been obstructive in this way “suggested a disdain for the [questionnaire] process” found the Tribunal.
The Council were unable to explain why Mr Khan was not short listed. The Tribunal said that the explanation they attempted to give “did not bear proper examination” and it therefore found that there had been discrimination.
Lynn Welsh Head of Strategic Litigation with the Equality and Human Rights Commission Scotland, who supported the case, stated:
"This is resounding victory for Mr Khan who has been discriminated against because of his race. The Tribunal quite clearly states that during the recruitment process Angus Council showed a blatant disregard for good employment practice and this is unacceptable. Mr Khan was a strong candidate and should have had the opportunity to go through the full interview process. The council’s attempts then to obstruct Mr Khan when he tried to find out why he had not been shortlisted, were also rightly condemned by the Tribunal"
Speaking after the Tribunal ruling Mr Ahsan Khan said:
"I'm delighted with the Tribunal verdict. This has been a stressful and protracted process and my skills and abilities have been called into question. The ruling today vindicates my view that because of my race I was put at a disadvantage when applying for this senior position."
Ends
Notes to editors:
Mr Khan was funded by the Commission for Racial Equality and its successor body the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
The Judgement was issued by the Edinburgh Employment Tribunal.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission is a statutory body established under the Equality Act 2006, which took over the responsibilities of Commission for Racial Equality, Disability Rights Commission and Equal Opportunities Commission.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission is the independent advocate for equality and human rights in Britain. It aims to reduce inequality, eliminate discrimination, strengthen good relations between people, and promote and protect human rights.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission will enforce equality legislation on age, disability, gender, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation or transgender status, and encourage compliance with the Human Rights Act. It will also give advice and guidance to businesses, the voluntary and public sectors, and to individuals.
For more information contact the Equality and Human Rights Commission 0141 228 5910 / 07970541369