Category Archives: Discrimination at work

British Asian man sues Liverpool FC over racial discrimination

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Asad Farooq, 25, claims club rejected his job application in favour of someone less experienced

A British Asian man is suing Liverpool Football Club, claiming it racially discriminated against him by rejecting his application for a job in favour of someone less experienced.

Asad Farooq, 25, has a degree in stadium and event management, and has worked for Tottenham Hotspur and at the Qatar World Cup, but was not invited for an interview when he applied to Liverpool in November last year for a job in administration.

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US sues Elon Musk’s SpaceX for alleged hiring discrimination against refugees

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Justice department alleges rocket company refused to consider asylum seekers and refugees for jobs because of citizenship status

The US justice department on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the billionaire Elon Musk’s rocket company SpaceX for alleged hiring discrimination against refugees and asylum seekers.

SpaceX “routinely discouraged asylees and refugees from applying and refused to hire or consider them, because of their citizenship status” from at least September 2018 to May 2022, according to the justice department.

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Probation service pays undisclosed sum to ex-contractor after racial harassment

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Lloyd Odain was subjected to discrimination, including monkey chants, in 2019 while working for the service

HM Prison and Probation Service has paid an undisclosed settlement to a former contractor who endured racial discrimination and harassment, including monkey chants.

Lloyd Odain, who worked for the probation service, was subject to incidents of racial discrimination by another contractor in 2019.

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Every fire brigade in England plagued by bullying and harassment claims, report finds

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Inspectors say ‘deeply troubling’ behaviour found at fire and rescue services across England may be ‘tip of the iceberg’

Every fire brigade in England is plagued with bullying, harassment and discrimination complaints, a damning report has found, and officials have called for drastic measures to clean up the service.

Inspectors urged bosses to carry out background checks on every firefighter, with those who fail being sacked, after long-awaited findings shone a light on “deeply troubling” behaviour in the emergency service.

A senior officer accused of calling a black colleague the N-word dismissing it as simply “having a laugh”.

A firefighter reporting a superior for making a racist comment, only to find his account dismissed because the alleged offender “wouldn’t behave in such a way”. The senior officer in question then threatened “to make his life hell”.

Two male firefighters mockingly told a female colleague they were “going to rape her”, before simulating it with her.

Some staff being reluctant to speak up after being told it would be “career suicide” to do so.

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First Nations public servants report higher rates of harassment

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Survey finds 16% of Indigenous Australian staff experienced bullying or harassment – almost double the rate of their non-Indigenous coworkers

First Nations staff in the federal public service have reported higher rates of bullying and harassment in the workplace than their non-Indigenous colleagues for the past four years.

Each year the Australian Public Service Commission asks staff to complete a survey detailing their experiences, including whether they have been subjected to harassment and bullying in the workplace.

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Job discrimination faced by ethnic minorities convinces public about racism

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Study finds exposing inequalities in applications for employment ‘catches racism red-handed’

Researchers believe they may have found the best way to convince the public that racism is a real problem and requires major change: tell them about an Oxford University study exposing discrimination faced by job applicants.

A groundbreaking project exploring how better to boost public support for action against systemic racism tested which messages best move people towards a more anti-racist position.

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Labor senator rebuked for referring to Bridget McKenzie as a ‘naughty little girl’ in parliament

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Glenne Sterle made the comments during a heated Senate estimates hearing, provoking condemnation from colleagues and opposition members alike

Labor senator Glenn Sterle has come under fire for referring to Bridget McKenzie as a “naughty little girl” during an argument in Senate estimates, comments described by one of his own colleagues as “completely unacceptable”.

Sterle later apologised to the Nationals senator, but Coalition leaders suggested the comments were out of step with a respectful workplace.

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Queensland Christian school principal asked students if they knew unmarried teacher lived with boyfriend

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Exclusive: Principal of Livingstone Christian college said investigation was sparked by a parent’s concern over ‘biblical moral standards’

The principal of a Queensland religious school interrogated students about whether they knew a teacher was living with her boyfriend, amid concerns the teacher’s “lifestyle” went against its “biblical moral standards”.

Guardian Australia has seen emails and other information confirming that the principal of Livingstone Christian college, Stephen Wilson, launched an investigation into an allegation the teacher had breached her contract by telling a class that she was unmarried and lived with her partner.

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Irish teacher jailed for breaching court order to stay away from school

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Enoch Burke, who had also refused to refer to pupil as ‘they’, spent 11 days in prison

A school teacher in Ireland who refused to call a transgender pupil by the pronoun “they” has spent 11 days in prison for ignoring a court order to stay away from the school.

Enoch Burke failed to obtain a court injunction on Wednesday that would have paved his release and return to school, leaving him in Mountjoy prison in Dublin.

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Government pays Rachelle Miller $650,000 to settle bullying, harassment and discrimination claims

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Miller’s claims relate to when she worked for former ministers Alan Tudge and Michaelia Cash, who both reject allegations of adverse treatment, while government has not admitted liability

The federal government has paid former Coalition staffer Rachelle Miller $650,000 in a settlement for hurt, distress and humiliation she alleges she suffered while working for former ministers Alan Tudge and Michaelia Cash.

No admission of liability was made by the government.

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Muslims’ high unemployment rate ‘not due to cultural and religious practices’

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Study challenges idea poor outcomes are due to Muslims’ so-called ‘sociocultural attitudes’

Poor outcomes for Muslims in the British labour market cannot be explained by sociocultural attitudes, such as commitment to traditionalism, a study has found.

The research, published in the peer-reviewed Ethnic and Racial Studies journal, confirmed the existence of a “Muslim penalty” in the employment market but rejected previous suggestions that it was due to cultural and religious practices.

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Julia Gillard says Covid-led shift to remote working could render some female employees ‘invisible’

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Former PM joins panel discussion of pandemic’s effect on workplace gender equality and urges bosses not to overlook women

Former prime minister Julia Gillard says women risk becoming “invisible behind the screen” during the Covid-led transition to remote working and has urged bosses to ensure female employees working from home aren’t overlooked for promotion.

Australia’s first female prime minister on Wednesday also welcomed the record number of women in Anthony Albanese’s cabinet, calling it “very important” as the Labor ministry was sworn in.

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Former Police Scotland officer hopes ‘torturous’ tribunal win will help women

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Ex-firearms officer Rhona Malone, awarded nearly £1m for sexist victimisation, says pain and sacrifices outweigh any compensation

A former armed response officer awarded nearly £1m by Police Scotland over victimisation said the past few years had been “torturous” and no amount of compensation could make up for the pain experienced.

Rhona Malone began her action against the force after a senior police officer said he did not want to see two female armed officers deployed together when there were sufficient male staff on duty.

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Workplace inclusion drives have almost trebled since BLM protests, survey shows

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About half of ethnic minority workers said their employer had taken action to tackle racism in last 12 months

The number of employers implementing new diversity and inclusion drives has almost trebled since the end of the Black Lives Matter protests, new research shows.

A total of 27% of ethnic minority workers said their employers had introduced new initiatives during the last 12 months in response to the global movement, according to an Opinium survey of 2,000 adults. This was an increase from 10% in 2020, the year in which protests began after George Floyd was murdered by a police officer in the US state of Minnesota.

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‘Women of the wild’: the platform giving India’s nature experts a voice

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Frustrated by a lack of female representation, film-maker Akanksha Sood Singh set up an Instagram account to showcase ‘the untold stories of women working for science and nature’

“I wish these things wouldn’t happen to anyone,” says Akanksha Sood Singh, a wildlife film-maker based in Delhi. “But if it has happened, this is a safe space for women to come and to share their experiences.”

The safe space Sood Singh is referring to is the Instagram account Women of the Wild – India, which showcases “the untold stories of women working for science and nature”. The platform gives them a chance to promote their expertise, but also somewhere to share their experiences of working in what are often male-dominated fields where sexual harassment can often feature.

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Black workers accused Tesla of racism for years. Now California is stepping in

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The company has been hit with several discrimination lawsuits but this from a government agency may have wider implications

For Black employees at Tesla’s flagship California plant, coming into work could mean being harassed, bullied by a supervisor or finding racist graffiti sprayed on factory walls.

That’s according to a new lawsuit filed by California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), which alleges that Black workers in the company’s Fremont factory experienced “rampant racism” that the company left “unchecked for years”.

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‘Loud’ academic awarded more than £100,000 for unfair dismissal

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University of Exeter ordered to pay compensation to physicist Dr Annette Plaut, who was sacked after 29 years

A senior academic who says she was sacked from her post in a university’s physics department because of her loud voice has been awarded more than £100,000 after winning a claim for unfair dismissal.

Dr Annette Plaut told the Guardian she had a “naturally loud voice” that came from her middle European Jewish background and claimed it was the combination of her being “female and loud” that had led to her dismissal from the University of Exeter.

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‘No running water’: foreign workers criticise UK farm labour scheme

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Government report on post-Brexit recruitment finds staff citing no health and safety equipment, racism and unsafe accommodation

Seasonal workers in the UK on a post-Brexit pilot scheme to harvest fruit and vegetables were subjected to “unacceptable” welfare conditions, according to a government review.

Issues cited by workers included a lack of health and safety equipment, racism, and accommodation without any bathrooms, running water or kitchens.

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‘It’s so liberating’: India’s first salon run by transgender men

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Founder Aryan Pasha wants La Beauté & Style to be an inclusive and comfortable space, as well as tackle prejudice and provide employment

The beauty treatments listed at the new La Beauté & Style salon are much the same as those offered by the dozen or so other parlours that dot the traffic-heavy Dilshad Extension area of Ghaziabad, 17 miles (28km) east of Delhi. But that is where the similarity ends.

The wall behind the reception desk is painted in rainbow colours; a mural of a trans man with flowing multicoloured locks decorates another wall; a woman wearing a sari is having her eyebrows plucked next to a trans man who is telling a stylist how he would like his hair cut.

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UK police urged to end sexist ‘canteen culture’ to win back public trust

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Head of Police Federation says forces have a behavioural problem that must be consigned to history

The head of the organisation representing police officers has said a “canteen culture” of sexism and misogyny in UK police forces has to end in order to win back public trust.

John Apter, the chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales, acknowledged forces in the UK had a problem with behaviour where female officers are subjected to “sexist nicknames” and “derogatory remarks”, adding it needed to be “consigned to the history books”.

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