Employment Tribunal ruling - claim of discrimination

3 March 2005

The Metropolitan Police Authority is pleased that the Employment Tribunal has published its findings in the case for race discrimination brought against it, and against the MPA Director of Internal Audit, by Mr Terry Ampofo.

The MPA was found not to have discriminated on grounds of race against Mr Ampofo in either of the cases he brought. All claims against the Director of Internal Audit were also dismissed. This confirms the view reached in an independent investigation by a leading employment lawyer commissioned by the MPA in 2004.

The Tribunal did criticise the MPA because, in dealing with one of Mr Ampofo’s grievances, the MPA failed to follow its own laid down grievance procedure to the letter. The Tribunal found that this amounted in law to victimisation. The MPA accepts this criticism and regrets that it got the procedure wrong in its efforts to deal with Mr Ampofo’s grievance promptly and responsively.

Len Duvall, Chair of the MPA said:

“The MPA was confident throughout that it had not discriminated against Mr Ampofo and this is the finding of the Tribunal.

“Mr Ampofo's concerns were first raised in an internal grievance. They were fully and independently investigated by a leading employment law specialist, who found that Mr Ampofo had not been discriminated against.

“The matters that gave rise to the claim in the first place have now all been addressed. The Tribunal’s finding that there was no direct discrimination reinforces our determination that the MPA continues to be a good, fair and non-discriminatory employer.

“The Tribunal acknowledged that it was impressed by the principal witnesses in this case and recorded that they all gave their evidence truthfully and had continued to work together.

“However, the MPA regrets that the Tribunal found, when dealing with Mr Ampofo’s second case, that the Authority had not followed its own grievance procedures strictly, with the result that Mr Ampofo was, technically, victimised in law.

“The criticisms by the Tribunal of the internal procedures are the same as those made by the MPA Members Grievance Panel in November 2004 when it considered Mr Ampofo’s complaint at Stage 3 of the internal process, and action has already been taken to ensure that the process is strictly adhered to in future.

“We are finalising a complete review of our grievance procedure, to satisfy the requirements of the new employment dispute resolution regulations that all employers are expected to comply with.

“It has been a very difficult and stressful time for all the parties involved. The MPA now hopes that everyone will return to working normally and we are committed to assisting all concerned to rebuild trusting working relationships.”

Under the Tribunal’s ruling, the MPA and Mr Ampofo have a period of time in which to agree what the fair remedy should be. If no agreement is reached, then the Tribunal will decide. The MPA will seek to settle this matter in negotiation with Mr Ampofo.

The MPA celebrates the diversity of its organisation, which it sees as a major strength in its work generally and in promoting diversity in the Metropolitan Police in particular. We follow a code of conduct that embraces the best tenets of employment best practice for all our staff.

The MPA has been at the forefront of promoting racial harmony through pioneering work, for example the implementation of Recommendation 61 of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry – the recording of police stops – and it is committed to creating a police service that is truly representative of the diverse communities it serves.

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