A former Aberdeen University IT technician claims he was barred from attending a Christmas lunch due to his race.
The man behind the claim, known in court papers as S Naik, has taken the higher education institution to an employment tribunal after being sacked.
He argues he was racially discriminated against, harassed and unfairly dismissed while he was in post at the King Street university.
Mr Naik has taken the Aberdeen University race action against 11 university employees – some of whom oversaw disciplinary proceedings which eventually led to him losing his job in 2020.
Those named are Rob Donelson, Debbie Dyker, Iain Harold, Brian Henderson, Karen E McArdle, Elizabeth Rattray, Tracey Slaven, Dean Philips and Susan White.
As well as apparently not being allowed to the festive bash, Mr Naik believes he was also discriminated against during his time at Aberdeen University.
Not happy with access to building
Mr Naik believes his was not granted access to the university’s MacRobert Building for two months and the reason for this was his race.
He feels the university also hampered him by denying him a place on a training course. He also claims they did not give him access to a fund open to PHD students.
Mr Naik also felt he was being discriminated against for being late to work. He blamed poor bus service from a rural part of Aberdeenshire.
Solicitor Gurjeet Singh, who is representing Mr Naik, said his client believed he was being targeted by another member of staff, professor emeritus professor Dr Karen McArdle.
Mr Singh said: “Dr McArdle asked for IT support at that time and he felt this was a racist incident.
“He felt that his attendance to Dr McArdle was not important, relevant or appropriate.
“I think it could be described as racial discrimination.”
Asked to work for another firm
Mr Naik believes his was not granted access to a university building for two months and the reason was his race.
He feels the university also hampered him by denying him a place on a training course and giving him access to fund open to PHD students.
Mr Naik also felt he was being discriminated against for being late to work after he blamed poor bus service from a rural part of Aberdeenshire.
He also asked university bosses if he could work for another company while on furlough between April and September 2020.
University urges judge to dismiss claim
Solicitor Neil McLean, who is representing Aberdeen University, urged employment judge James Young to dismiss all of the claims.
He also wanted the cases against 11 individual university employees to be struck out completely.
Mr McLean said: “As an institution that has been around for centuries its covenant is strong.”
He said continuing to name the individuals “would serve no purpose”.
“All of the individual respondents should be removed.
“The equality act claims have no reasonable prospect for success.”
Judge Young told the preliminary hearing he would decide if the case moves to a full tribunal within a month.
We contacted Mr Singh and asked him for his client’s first name but he refused to tell us.
This story was amended on August 9 2022 to make clarify the roles played by the 11 staff members named in the case.
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