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Gurpal Virdi loses Met race appeal
WSN Network
LONDON: Sikh
detective Gurpal Virdi from Cranford has lost his appeal against a
decision to clear Met Police bosses of victimisation. Gurpal Virdi
was awarded £70,000 after winning an employment tribunal in June
last year, only for judges to overturn the ruling on appeal.
The Court of Appeal upheld the decision on Tuesday after it
was challenged by the 50-year-old. A spokesman for the Met said it
was pleased by the verdict but 'disappointed he felt it necessary to
bring this case at all'.
"Our policy and practice is designed to allow all members of
the service to fulfil their potential regardless of ethnicity or
faith," he added. "DS Virdi is and remains a valued officer of the
MPS."
The Met was ordered to pay DS Virdi £240,000 In August 2000,
after wrongly accusing him of sending racist hate mail to himself
and fellow black and Asian officers at Hanwell Police Station.
He claimed resentment over that decision led to him missing
out on promotion five years later, and tribunal judges awarded him
another £70,000 in damages last June. But the Met successfully
appealed that verdict, insisting the job had gone to a
better-qualified candidate.
DS Virdi, who missed out again on promotion to inspector last
year, has three further employment tribunal cases pending against
his employers. Met chiefs have admitted destroying potentially
harmful evidence relating to his latest case. However, they claim
notes taken by the detective's promotion panel were 'shredded in
error'.
DS Virdi last month described himself as the 'Colin Stagg of
the Met', referring to the man wrongly accused of killing model
Rachel Nickell on Wimbledon Common. "Everyone knows I'm innocent and
the Met are not accepting it," he said.
A high-profile inquiry into discrimination in the Met,
focusing on employment and career progression among officers from
ethnic minorities, began on Wednesday. The Metropolitan Police
Authority Race and Faith review was launched by London Mayor Boris
Johnson following a string of claims by officers, including former
Hounslow borough commander Ali Dizaei.
25
February 2009
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