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Another payout for Yard detective
Elizabeth Hopkirk, Evening Standard19.09.08
An Asian detective who has already won £240,000 in damages from the Metropolitan Police for race discrimination has won another case against the force.
Detective Sergeant Gurpal Virdi will receive £4,500 and an apology from Scotland Yard, though it did not accept it acted illegally. He said the Met discriminated against him by not making allowances for his failing sight when he was taking police exams. Mr Virdi, 50, said: "I am not interested in the money. I have been looking for an apology for more than a year." He said he hoped ethnic minority officers would be able to resolve their issues in the future. Mr Virdi has brought a string of cases against the Met since he was sacked after being wrongly accused of sending racist emails to colleagues and himself.
He was reinstated after an appeal at a tribunal and awarded £240,000. He still has a race discrimination and victimisation claim outstanding which is due to be completed later this year.
Reader views (10)
DS Gurpal is a Hindu isn't he ? for some reason I'd expected better than that Hindus were going to join the discrimination trough alongside the muslims. If his eyesight is no good tough luck. It's not like he's not going to get a huge pension is it ?
- Squiz, Islington
welcome to our country. Here's some money.
- Colonel Cholmondeley-Featherstonehaugh, Islington
I worked with Asians in the UK. There was very definitely a sense that you had to be very careful what you said to them. I wouldn't work with them again from choice.
- Fred, Horsham
Not interested in the money? Then give it to charity with an extra dollop to cover the taxpayers expenses.
- Steve, Hereford
This is getting out of hand. Too many Asian officers are using the race relations industry to further their careers and make money. As one of the taxpayers that has to fund this travesty, I urge government to put a stop to this gravy train.
- Anthony, London
How on earth can "discriminated against him by not making allowances for his failing sight when he was taking police exams" be classified as racial discrimination?"!?!?!
The fast-track to wealth for any member of an ethnic minority appears to be to join the Met Police and then launch a stream of employment tribuneral cases against it.
- Sean, London, United Kingdom of Political-Correctness
Asians and discrimination what next? They invented the caste system ,this is still practised today by them.They discriminate against each other in this country,I know I work with them,they can't really believe we are as gullible as we are
- G Graeme, london
The racism gravy train spills on.
- Frank, Home Counties, England.
So he'll be giving the money to charity will he. What a load of tosh. Get on with your job.
- Lou, London
Can we really afford any more Asians in the police forces?
Do they have an unfortunate effect on the other officers who have to work with them? Has the pc brigade gone too far with looking after their interests as against the interests of the police forces they work in?
- Jonathan Montmorency, cooden, uk
