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Muslim chef sues ‘insensitive’ Met over pork sausages
Justin Davenport11.05.09
A Muslim police chef claiming religious discrimination for being asked to cook pork sausages, bacon and black pudding today began his case against Scotland Yard.
Hasanali Khoja says the Met Police was unable to guarantee that he would not have to handle pork products when he moved to be senior catering manager at the force's offices in the Empress State Building, west London.
He alleges he was expected to make “999 breakfasts”, which include sausages, bacon and black pudding and are so named because officers traditionally begin their shift after a full English breakfast.
Mr Khoja, 60, from Edgware, claims managers suggested he wore gloves to handle the meat.Speaking ahead of the full employment tribunal hearing in Watford, he said: “I was very upset and angry because it is not permissible in my religion.
“I was threatened that management would sack me if I did not follow instructions. But I never enrolled to cook pork. I refused to do it.”
The chef, who joined the force in 2005, said he had been allowed to avoid pork at Hendon Police College but when he moved his new managers only offered an informal guarantee.
He said: “I had a letter from the human resources department saying that I would not be required to cook any pork.
“But this was not exactly what I wanted as a guarantee. The Met has shown no sensitivity towards my religion.
“My original contract did not include any kind of cooking. I was hired as a senior catering manager. I protested at the move and at having to cook pork.”
Mr Khoja, who sits on a Foods Standards Agency advisory committee on Muslim issues, said the Met placed him on special unpaid leave for a year after he refused to work without the guarantee he wanted.
He says he was then given work in a different building, but his role was downgraded to that of a higher catering manager.
Mr Khoja was expected to outline his claim for race and religious discrimination and unauthorised deduction of wages at the tribunal today. A private case management discussion between both legal teams was held this morning.
Mr Khoja's lawyer, Khalid Sofi, previously said: “He has genuine and strong religious beliefs and expects that they will be accommodated. The Met is a very large organisation and could easily have met his demands.”
The Met denies Mr Khoja's claims. The hearing, expected to last 10 days, continues.
Reader views (26)
What a load of rubbish!! I'm a muslim and don't eat pork but am more than happy to cook it at home for my husband who is a *gasp* bacon & sausage eating muslim!!
I can't believe that ALL muslims don't ever touch pork even if they don't eat it themselves.. I'm sure there are loads of muslims out there doing jobs that involve them 'breaking' their religion...this bloke is just giving us all a bad name!
Tosh!
- Hat, London, 12/05/2009 14:15
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Honestly, this man is trying to make a quick buck and wasting our money in the process. He was never mislead by the Met as to what his duties may entail, so why complain when he is asked to do his job? They asked him to cook it, not ridicule him or force him to eat it. Its like a pacifist joining the Army and then suing them for making him fight!
- Smb, London, UK, 12/05/2009 13:20
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Any fool knows that police eat sauage and chips and bangers and mash in police canteens. So did he explain at his interview for the job that he wasn't willing to cook sausages? If not he was guilty of withholding information that he knew would make him unsuitable.
- Marie Dixie, Hammersmith, UK, 12/05/2009 13:20
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Quite frankly, I couldn't give a sausage
- Jane, London, 12/05/2009 13:13
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This is compensation culture gone wrong. Next we will have police officers complaining they didn't expect to have to drive fast when they joined up. He knew what he was getting into when he got the job and no i don't believe we should bend back and forth for every little whim and wish. If he doesn't like the job, he can leave or move or whatever. This guy needs a reality check.
- Jeremy Lawrence, Berlin, Germany, 12/05/2009 13:11
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"I see the usual rash of secularists promoting their version of diversity and equality."
Shouldn't that be RASHER of secularists?"
Cases like this should have some sort of triage assessment to avoid wasting time and money on spurious claims. Or is this another of Liberty's time-wasters?
- Martin, Teddington, 12/05/2009 12:50
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Thank God he was not a vegan, think what he could have refused to cook then.
- Tom, Watford (UK), 12/05/2009 12:07
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He's just out for some compensation money. I've worked in the hospitality industry for 15 years, and what muslims do in the kitchen when handling pork is very simple: they wear gloves. We even had a waiter who got himself a pair of white cotton gloves to serve wine and beer. None of them ever dreamed of not performing the work they had applied to and had been hired to do.
- Juma, london, uk, 12/05/2009 12:06
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He shouldn't eat these types of meat in line with his religious choices... doesn't say anything about cooking them!!! Does the fact that pigs actually exist at all offend him? IDIOT
- Rachroo, London, 12/05/2009 11:56
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Just kick him and his claim out now without wasting any more public money. No doubt the PC mob will yell human rights etc but stick two fingers up at them also. No doubt he will win £millions in a claim knowing how week the UK has become because of all the do gooders
- Mike, London England, 12/05/2009 11:43
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It would be most sensitive if we just avoided employing Muslims I feel, just in case we upset them.
- Martin, London, 12/05/2009 11:23
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Ironic isn't it. Hates Pork yet puts own 'Snout in the trough' for compo. Oink oink...maybe he can become an MP.
- Ethan, UK, 12/05/2009 09:37
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oh come on, you're in a country where the traditional breakfast involves bacon and sausages at the very least.
Can't handle it, dont come and live here
- Jennifer, London, 11/05/2009 23:46
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It would appear that Mr Khoja was unsuitable for the position but was hired anyway. Now the British taxpayer has to finance his ridiculous case against the MET and be expected to pay his compensation.
- Pacifus, Newcastle Australia, 11/05/2009 22:23
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Perhaps he was afraid of catching swine flu!
How can the boys in blue be denied their English breakfast based on the chef's religon. Surely, he must
have known well in advance that he would need to cook / come into contact with pig meat. You don't become a fireman if you are scared of heights, a surgeon if you don't like the sight of blood or a cook for the police if you don't like to handle Pork.
- Frank, Copenhagen, Denmark, 11/05/2009 22:09
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I see the usual rash of secularists promoting their version of diversity and equality...i.e. we believe in it provided it conforms to our secular view of things. When I was at school people were allowed to hold their own views and practice their own beiefs, without aggressive secularists determined to root religion out of other people's lives.
- Steve, London UK, 11/05/2009 21:42
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I find it unconscionable that someone would intentionally take a job while at the same time, having no intention of performing its full duties and then be upset when they are called to task for failing to carry out their work properly. I find it even more insulting that this person claims he is being harassed after being put on leave with full pay for a year after intentionally refusing to do his job. I wish my employer had harassed me like that several times during my career.
- R. Ricardo, Away from the political correctness of the UK, 11/05/2009 21:02
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More to the point - how does one become a senior catering manager without having to cook? Surely the gentleman in question must have had to cook various meat products in previous jobs.
- Natty, London, 11/05/2009 17:51
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Makes you wonder why these zealots take jobs in areas that are guaranteed to lead them into confrontation. No doubt the attraction of possible compensation has nothing to do with this at all!
- Ron, London, 11/05/2009 16:49
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If it was so awful for him to touch pig meat, he shouldn't even consider taking the job.
So why did he take the job?
Was it so that he could claim discrimination and claim lots of lovely compensation money?
If you only want to handle halal meat, get a job in a halal kitchen.
Simples!
- Ann Louisa, Southampton., 11/05/2009 16:46
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It doesn't matter how big the police is and how much they could have accomodated him. He has been told that the conditions of the job involved him possibly having to handle pork. He wanted the job of senior catering manager and expected the job to involve no cooking. This case shouldn't have even reached the court stage. I do hope they firmly reject his claim.
- Richard Holloway, London, 11/05/2009 16:25
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Hasanali Khoja says the Met Police was unable to guarantee that he would not have to handle pork products when he moved to be senior catering manager at the force's offices in the Empress State Building, west London.
You're a chief for gods sake and you got told they could not GUARANTEE that you wouldn't handle pork so why take the damn job....oh silly me ...compo's a good enough reason...total rubbish like that one about that silly girl in the hair dressin saloon....
- Sarah, London, 11/05/2009 16:23
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Seriously, this man should avoid ALL contact with Christians in the future.
It is really sad to see how the legal, health, social, financial and governmental systems in the UK are just poor old cows, waiting to be milked.
- Ex London, Germany, 11/05/2009 16:20
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Refuses to cook a full english breakfast...that in itself should be a sackable offence....so what would happen in a situation where a chef who did cook pork was off sick and only Mr.Khoja available? Would he refuse to cook the food and expect everyone to eat something different....I know what my response would be.
- Alan, East London, 11/05/2009 16:12
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No sorry. Not buying this one.
I can see plenty of circumstances where it would be unreasonable to expect a muslim to prepare pork, but to expect a load of London bobbies to have their diet dictated to them by one man is ridiculous.
I for one do not want to have my diet and personal behaviour dictated by a religion I do not belong to and whose principles I do not share.
What next? English women forced to cover their heads and arms so as not to upset muslim men? Places of worship closed to avoid upsetting Muslims when they discover that other people have different beliefs?
You cannot sign up to a job where you will cook for a clientelle that is mainly other faiths and expect them to adopt a halal diet. It simply isn't reasonable.
- Andrew, Edinburgh, 11/05/2009 16:04
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After we've paid the compensation for yet another ludicrous religion-based complaint, can we also fire the person who employed him on these terms ?
- Cap, london, 11/05/2009 15:59
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