AN ACCOUNTANT was racially discriminated against and unfairly dismissed by an Oxford college, an employment tribunal has ruled.
A tribunal panel in Reading made its ruling against Keble College and criticised it for doing "very little" to implement equal opportunities among staff - adding that it took "a most unfavourable view of the prestigious Oxford college".
College bursar Roger Boden dismissed accountant Diamond Versi because he was Asian, the tribunal ruled. 57-year-old Mr Versi has made a claim for £250,000 compensation. But Keble is considering appealing. against the decision.
The tribunal ruled that Mr Boden started a groundless fraud investigation against Mr Versi and the panel criticised the way Mr Boden - himself a former Keble student - was able to influence the college's finance committee.
Mr Versi worked for the college from 1989 until he was made redundant in April 2004. The tribunal heard that he lost his £47,000-a-year job when Mr Boden combined Mr Versi's post with that of his deputy, Julie Hernandez. She got the job.
Mr Versi had told the tribunal that Mr Boden pursued "a personal vendetta" against him - even after a fraud inquiry in January 2003 had cleared him of any wrongdoing. The tribunal panel, in its written decision, concluded: "The fraud investigation was an extremely serious matter with no factual background to justify it, merely the whim of the Bursar who considered that the claimant, in taking a long-haul overseas holiday and acquiring a BMW, may be guilty of misfeasance."
The panel also heard evidence of other alleged racism involving staff at Keble College. Mr Versi told the tribunal that Mr Boden had tried to stop an Oriental waitress joining the accounts department and stopped Pakistani cleaner, Naheed Chaudhry, from getting a £4,000 loan, while agreeing similar loans for white employees.
The tribunal's ruling also criticsed the college's implementation of its equal opportunities policy for staff. The ruling, published last Thursday, stated: "It was clear that whilst the college was able to brandish a bit of paperwork showing it had a policy, in practice very little was done regarding the implementation of equal opportunities. The importance the college gave to equal opportunities was shown by the fact that the Bursar had no training in it and said he relied on pamphlets from law firms."
Speaking after the verdict, Mr Versi called on Mr Boden to resign. "I think his position is untenable, but then again Oxford colleges work in very mysterious ways," he said
A statement from Keble College stated it believed it had acted "fairly and lawfully" towards Mr Versi and added that the college might appeal against the tribunal's decision.