Are the litigious few ruining our prospects?

By Lopa Patel, 26 November 2009

OK, so this post is going to get me into trouble, but after hearing about TV-presenter Liza Aziz’s multi-million pound lawsuit against ITV West for alleged religious discrimination, ageism and sexism, I am beginning to wonder if the litigious few among the Asian community are ruining the prospects of the next generation.

Liza Aziz, who earns £200,000-a-year as a news presenter for the ITV West station, alleges religious discrimination on the grounds that her bosses asked her use her “terror contacts” when investigating a story about a Bristol terror suspect. In turn, her employers claim that she was suspended for fiddling her expenses. Following her suspension, Aziz claims ageism and sexism because they replaced her with “two blonde, blue-eyed presenters in their thirties”.

Whether Aziz wins her case or not, what is clear is that future Asian presenters are going to find it much harder to gain a foothold at ITV. They are certainly going to find it much harder to progress.

Don’t believe me? Consider the Metropolitan Police Service.

First there was the case of Det Sgt Gurpal Virdi who was awarded £150,000 in 2000 following claims of racial discrimination; this was followed by a payout of £90,000 in 2002 for “injury to his feelings”, then a claim for £70,000 for being passed over for promotion which was overturned in July 2008. In September 2008, Virdi was awarded £4,500 because his bosses failed to take into account his failing eyesight when he was taking Police exams. Virdi’s claims that it is “not about the money” do sound a little weak given the plethora of claims and proceedings.

Then there is the case of Tariq Ghaffur, Britain’s former top-ranking Asian Police Officer, who took early retirement in November 2008 and received a reported £310,000 out-of-court settlement for alleged claims of racial discrimination against the then Commissioner of the Met, Sir Ian Blair.

Thirdly is the case of Commander Shabir Hussain who last year took the Metropolitan Police Force to a tribunal claiming that he had been repeatedly overlooked for senior jobs and that a "golden circle" of favoured candidates was groomed for promotion and received preferential treatment. However, an employment tribunal rejected his claims saying that there was no evidence of a "golden circle" of officers.

And the outcome of these discrimination disputes?

Despite the fact that nearly one in ten officers in the Capital are from an ethnic minority, there are only 11 BME officers above the rank of Chief Inspector (out of 314 in total) and out of 75 Chief Superintendents only one is Asian. Claims by the Metropolitan Police Service that it is working hard to fast-track black and Asian officers are dismissed by the Metropolitan Black Police Association as “window dressing”. In an opinion piece in the London Evening Standard (1 September 2008), Andrew Gilligan said that he felt Tarique Ghaffur had “if anything, have been over-promoted, rather than held back on grounds of race”! Perhaps the real issue is that the majority of BME officers want to attain promotion on merit. Little wonder that more than 359 officers* in London who claimed to be from an ethnic minority group did not want to give details of their ethnic background.

Using the “race card” can be a “double-edged sword”

Using the “race card” can be a “double-edged sword”: on the one hand it can get you the compensation you deserve if your claim is genuine though you face the continued disdain of colleagues and the community, but on the other hand it can make your employer wary of taking on or promoting others from the same minority group in the future. Interestingly, young British Asians are cynical about “race claims” with many stating it is just so that the individual concerned can get a “big fat cheque and retire into the sunset”. Most young Asians do not perceive these litigious individuals as trail blazers fighting to end discrimination for all minorities.

And why should minorities expect preferential treatment anyway? Most individuals want to progress on merit and yet when claims arise, they are clutching at issues about race, gender, sexual orientation and disability. Is the thought of failing on the grounds of merit just too awful to contemplate?

I don’t have the answers, but I am concerned about the mounting costs for legislation which is paid for ultimately by the taxpayer. I am also worried about the toll on the next generation of British Asians in terms of career progression. “Institutional racism”, as is often cited against the Metropolitan Police Service, can only be conquered by working with an organisation, not against it.

* Out of 32,453 officers in the Metropolitan Police Service there are 2865 BME officers in total: 1,109 are Asian, 841 are black, 556 are mixed race and 359 identified themselves as from an ethnic minority but did not give details.