Maravi

(NEWZIMBABWE) British Navy Job Discrimination

Mugabe-taunts UK soldier loses racism claim
by
21/12/2009 00:00:00

A BLACK British Royal Navy officer who lost an employment tribunal claim for racial discrimination after being nicknamed “Robert Mugabe”, will have to pay almost £30,000 in costs to the people he accused of racism.

Andrew Antrobus accused the Royal Navy of racism after he claimed jealous colleagues had resorted to taunts when he was appointed manager at a Navy recruitment office in Cornwall.

The 48-year-old had said he had been introduced as “Andy, aka Robert Mugabe” at important meetings and on one occasion had come to work to find a voting poster for the Zimbabwean President on the wall above his desk.

An Exeter employment tribunal dismissed his race claims against the Ministry of Defence and two of his colleagues – Chief Petty Officer John Pinsent and Warrant Officer Robert Ewen.

The two men said Chief Petty Officer Antrobus invented the Mugabe nickname himself at a time when he was bringing a stricter regime to the office. They said it was only banter.

Antrobus said the Navy failed to investigate his complaints and instead investigated him for using an office mobile phone to make private calls to his girlfriend.

On Friday the tribunal ruled that Antrobus, from Redruth, Cornwall, will have to pay a total of just over £28,000 costs to the MoD and the two colleagues. The MoD will receive £10,000 as will CPO Pinsent, and WO Ewen £8,000.

Antrobus said he was too ill to attend the hearing, having been off sick since April because of work-related stress, but the tribunal judge John Hollow ruled the hearing should go ahead in his absence.

Hollow said costs could only be awarded if a claimant had acted vexatiously, abusively or disruptively and Antrobus had not been disruptive or abusive. But said the basic facts he advanced to the hearing were false. - Plymouth Herald

Labels: ARMED FORCES, JOB DISCRIMINATION, RHODESIANS, UK

posted by MrK @ 3:51 PM