Security guard's win in race discrimination case
A BRISTOL security guard has won a race discrimination case against an employment agency which told him he could not work for Avon and Somerset Constabulary because he was not a British citizen.
Dutch national Axmad Muxumed, 36, who lives in Strawbridge Road, Barton Hill, visited the offices of recruitment company Adecco last October to apply for a security job working at the force's headquarters in Portishead.
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Security guard Axmad Muxumed has won a race discrimination case against an employment agency with the help of the Avon and Bristol Law Centre in Stokes Croft
Mr Muxumed, who now works for Securitas at various locations around the city, said: "The recruitment consultant told me only British citizens could apply and sent me away.
"I immediately knew this was not right – I came to the UK in 2003 and have held many jobs in the security industry.
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"I moved to Holland as an asylum seeker from Somalia as a 13-year-old and have never had this kind of problem before.
"The incident left me feeling stressed – I knew it wasn't right, so I went to Support Against Racist Incidents (Sari) in Bristol.
"There it was confirmed that what the recruitment consultant had said was indeed not true.
"The Police Authority does not restrict applications to only British Citizens.
"Sari referred me to Avon and Bristol Law Centre in Stokes Croft who helped me make a claim."
An employment tribunal recently concluded that the recruitment consultant's comment was ill-advised and was discrimination on the grounds of Mr Muxumed's race.
It found he had clearly been rejected by Adecco because of his nationality.
The tribunal also expressed concerns that Adecco's systems kept no record of reasons for rejection of job applicants during the early stages of their application process.
Will Stone, the solicitor from Avon and Bristol Law Centre who represented Mr Muxumed, said: "We are delighted that Mr Muxumed has won his case.
"No one should be prevented from applying for a job because of their nationality or race.
"That is race discrimination and has been illegal for nearly 40 years.
"If you think you've experienced discrimination, don't put up with it."
A spokesman for Adecco said the company had no comment on the case. A spokesman for Avon and Somerset Constabulary said: "Avon and Somerset Police welcomes applications from all of our communities and does not discriminate on the basis of race or other factors such as age, disability or faith.
"A diverse workforce helps us to better reflect the communities we serve and the help we can give people when they need our support."
Comments
by Big_Gregory
Friday, August 10 2012, 1:22PM
“Innocent until proven guilty. Get proven not guilty in a court but will never be considered innocent by some because it doesn't fit with their own political beliefs and personal opinions. Fortunately for John Terry he had an unbiased magistrate rather than a jury made up of people who would already have had their minds made up.”
by CurtisHewitt
Friday, August 10 2012, 12:22PM
“@arealbristol "We all know what would have happened if it was the other way round"
She'd claim she was just repeating the phrase sarcastically and the court would let her off?”
by arealbristol
Friday, August 10 2012, 12:01PM
“Yes double standards strikes again...
When Leanna Greenwood committed a road rage attack and called the victim a white ***** why wasn't she prosecuted for hate crime?
http://tinyurl.com/d645jdd
We all know what would have happened if it was the other way round”
by Clevedonian
Friday, August 10 2012, 11:34AM
“All of you lot going on about "WHY SHUD HE B ALOUD 2 JOIN THE POLICE" -
Read the article ferchristsakes. He wasn't applying to join the Police.”
by Stagnate
Friday, August 10 2012, 11:32AM
“The following is taken from application forms and job descriptions on the A&S web site. It applies to ALL civilian staff employed by the Constabulary or SouthWest One who employ many of the staff working for the A&S Constabulary.
'All applicants must be able to be vetted before appointment. Vetting is part of the recruitment process and for meaningful vetting enquiries to take place; applicants are required to have been resident in the UK for the last three / five years depending on the role.
Foreign nationality is not an automatic bar to recruitment or to granting vetting clearance. However, the Force Vetting Officer will require adequate residency and background checks to be conducted for the required period in order to make an informed decision.'
Vetting, depending on a persons circumstances, can be a lengthy and deeply intrusive procedure with checks on your immediate family, parents/step parents, brothers/sister, children living with you and any friends/associates who may have resided with you, or you them, within the last five years.
As a member of the security staff, his access to 'classified' and confidential material would have been strictly limited and accessible on a 'need to know' basis.
It could well have been that the staff at the agency were aware of the employment requirements and simply misinterpreted them or used a poor turn of phrase.
To become a warranted Police Officer you do not need to be a British Subject as the following, taken from the recruitment site of the A&S shows.
'Residency
Have you resided in the UK for 3 years immediately prior to this application? All applicants and their family are required to have 3 years residency in the UK prior to application.
Nationality
Are you a British citizen, a member of the EC or other states in the EEA (Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein)? Or are you a Commonwealth citizen, or a foreign national who is a resident in the UK, free of restrictions?'
From the above, it would seem that the agency staff have failed to fully understand the job requirements but, like others, I question whether this would have been pursued and figured as a news report had Axmad Muxumed been a white Dutch citizen .......”
by CurtisHewitt
Friday, August 10 2012, 10:42AM
“GOOD IDEA LOLLY! LET'S JUST POP OVER TO THE EU OFFICE AND GET THEM TO CHANGE THEIR LAWS. SHOULDN'T TAKE TOO LONG.
WE DON'T WANT THEY FOREIGN CRIMINALS COMING OVER TO JOIN OUR POLICE AND BEHAVING BADLY LIKE WHAT THEY FOREIGNERS DO! http://tinyurl.com/cxuj2y9”
by lolly60
Friday, August 10 2012, 10:23AM
“@ITS ALL A BIG JOKE WE NEED TO CHANGE THE EU RULES ON THIS RIGHT AWAY .
WHY SHOULD SOMEONE BORN FROM OUTSIDE OF THE UK BE ABLE TO JOIN OUR BRITISH POLICE FORCE.
WHAT IF IT HAD BEEN SOMEONE INTENT ON DOING HARM THEY COULD HAVE ACCESS TO ANYTHING THEY WANTED ON THE POLICE DATA BASE.”
by arealbristol
Friday, August 10 2012, 10:19AM
“Yawn yawn yawn
Yet another asylum seeker complaining”
by arealbristol
Friday, August 10 2012, 10:17AM
“Morrissey
How do you know that they would have ignored him?
Don't let your prejudices get in the way of the truth.”
by Big_Gregory
Friday, August 10 2012, 9:38AM
“A&S spokesman say's they don't discriminate against applicants due to race, faith, age or disability. He/She doesn't mention nationality so as far as i know you may still need to be a british national to be a police officer - some civilian posts such as in this case will probably have different rules? If that is the case I can understand why a mistake may have been made. It is unfortunate that these days rather than looking to correct something the first thing some people do is run straight to a solicitor. Unless this chap was willing to risk his own money by paying the legal costs himself it will no doubt be 'no win no fee' meaning compo is being paid.”