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UK Lawyer Wins Race Case

An employment tribunal in London has ruled that Kamlesh Bahl, a leading UK solicitor of Indian origin and former Vice President of the Law Society, was a victim of race and sex discrimination by the society.

She now stands to be awarded compensation estimated to be between 500,000 and one million pounds.

Bahl, 46, once set to be the society's first Asian and woman President, defied the odds to win what she called her 'David and Goliath battle' with the Law Society, a professional body of over 80,000 solicitors in England and Wales, that ousted her 15 months ago.

The tribunal , which heard evidence over 28 days, found that the Society was "vicariously liable" for discriminatory behaviour by Robert Sayer, its former President and Jane Betts, its former secretary-general.

The tribunal, in its 126-page ruling, said Sayer's behaviour would not have been the same towards a white man. It also singled out the failure by Betts to acknowledge the "obvious racial context" of words such as "lebensraum" and her comment that "hands were going to be chopped off", had "clear racial overtones", being descriptive of Sharia (Islamic law). Other claims of victimisation and unfair dismissal were rejected.

But her victory could yet turn sour since the tribunal also concluded that on one occasion Bahl had deliberately "lied on oath" while giving evidence. Janet Paraskeva, the society's chief executive, said disciplinary proceedings would "not be out of the question".

(PTI)

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