Muslim Woman To Lodge Race Case Against The Met

• Sandra Laville, crime correspondent
• The Guardian,
• Thursday September 11 2008

The Metropolitan police is facing another racial discrimination claim from a senior employee amid allegations that a failure of leadership in the force is allowing prejudice to flourish.

Sources close to Yasmin Rehman, a Muslim woman who is employed in a senior diversity role within the force, said yesterday she was preparing an employment tribunal claim which was at an advanced stage. It is likely Rehman will lodge the papers in the next few days.

Rehman, a civilian who works with ethnic minority communities dealing with issues such as “honour” killings and forced marriages, has been off sick for a year after allegedly facing bullying in the workplace.

The claim comes after the assistant commissioner, Tarique Ghaffur, Britain’s most senior Asian officer, announced he was taking legal action against the Met and Sir Ian Blair, the commissioner, for racial discrimination and just a day after Ghaffur was temporarily relieved of his duties by Blair.

The Met also recently faced a claim from Commander Shabir Hussain, who claimed he had been sidelined because of his race and turned down for promotion four times. Hussain lost his case last week, but the number of race claims emerging publicly has exposed a growing rift in the Met between black and Asian officers and the force.

The number of claims was blamed by a source within the black police officers’ association on a failure of leadership in the Met, which was allowing racism to go unchecked.

“What will emerge is that there is no leadership and this is the problem,” the source said.

But others within the force said there appeared to be a concerted campaign to publicise race claims. One source accused the National Black Police Association of publicising the cases because it had had its funding cut by the Home Office.

“They want to prove that they are very much needed,” the source said. “They have lost all their money and want to show they are necessary.”

Rehman, who works as director of partnerships and diversity within territorial policing, was promoted to her post two years ago. She is understood to earn in the region of £90,000 a year.

Scotland Yard said as yet the Met was not aware of any tribunal claim being lodged by Rehman. “We have received no notification concerning an employment tribunal,” a spokesman said.

“Ms Rehman is a valued employee. If she is contemplating an employment tribunal this would be a matter of regret but we would want to work with her to resolve whatever grievances she may have without recourse to the courts.”

A spokesman for employment tribunals in London said the panel would consider evidence presented to it when and if a case came to it.

On Tuesday Blair said he was temporarily relieving Ghaffur of his duties because his public comments were affecting the Met’s “operational effectiveness.”

Ghaffur is alleging discrimination on three fronts - race, religion and age. He alleges he was harassed by Blair and another senior officer, repeatedly excluded from crucial meetings, criticised by a fellow senior officer about his language skills in a way which amounted to racial discrimination and victimised by the commissioner in a face-to-face meeting over his decision to bring a discrimination claim.

A spokesman for the Home Office said the NBPA would have its funding reviewed next year. Funding was withdrawn for 2008-09 because auditors found irregularities in the accounts.