Camden New Journal - by PAUL KEILTHY Published: 04 October 2007
Worker sent for an IQ test wins damages
Tribunal backs racial bias claims
AN education worker who was sent for a “humiliating” IQ test because English was his second language has won £12,000 in damages.
An employment tribunal supported his claims of racial discrimination and harassment by Camden Council.
Council managers sent Salik Miah, 40, a member of the Town Hall’s youth offending team, for the IQ assessment under the guise of a development course, then used a damning report as a basis for making him redundant, the tribunal concluded on Thursday.
At the Central Employment Tribunal in Kingsway, Mr Miah’s managers were accused of deliberately targeting him in the run-up to his redundancy in October 2006. “Its a very sensitive thing to suggest, isn’t it, that someone might need speech therapy?” asked Mr Miah’s barrister, Althea Brown.
Ronke Martins, the youth offending team’s principal officer, responded: “There was an issue with his ability to communicate.”
Council lawyers said Mr Miah did not understand the criminal justice system and cited an instance when he told a 14-year-old girl she could be sent to Feltham Young Offenders’ Institute, an all-male detention centre for the over-15s.
But the tribunal panel upheld Mr Miah’s claims that he had been victimised and discriminated against on racial grounds and insulted by managers.
His solicitor, Arpita Dutt, said the case exposed a “sham assessment” designed to discredit Mr Miah, adding that he was “subjected to discriminatory treatment, on account of his race and the fact that he had previously challenged discriminatory behaviour”.
Mr Miah, who lives in Kentish Town, worked for the council for five years.
He said after the hearing: “When the council started this process I hoped to resolve it internally. I did not intend to take them to a tribunal. “But this was continuing victimisation and I felt discredited, and the case was not resolved by higher-level officers.”
A council press official said: “Camden Council takes the judgment extremely seriously. We are now waiting for the full findings of the tribunal, which we will carefully consider to fully understand how this decision was reached before we decide whether to appeal.”
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