Amnesty has lost a claim for racial discrimination brought against it by Miss Bashir Ahmed. Miss Ahmed, who is from northern Sudan, was employed by Amnesty as a campaigner on Sudanese issues. She was considered for promotion to the post of researcher for Sudan in 2007. She was shortlisted for the position, but did not get the appointment.

Amnesty was concerned that appointing someone who came from the area might be problematic, as it could leave the organisation open to allegations of partiality, and could even lead to an increased risk of ill-treatment or violence against the employee when they visited the country. Miss Ahmed resigned and claimed constructive dismissal and direct and indirect race discrimination.

During the case, Amnesty argued that the discrimination was not unlawful, as the risks that would have been posed to Miss Ahmed would have meant that they would be in breach of their duty of care to Miss Ahmed under section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

Both the race discrimination and constructive dismissal claims were upheld by the employment tribunal. Amnesty appealed, taking the case to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT).

In considering the case, the EAT determined that the basic question in a direct discrimination case is, what are the grounds for the treatment being complained about? Miss Ahmed’s treatment was clearly on the grounds of her racial origin. While Amnesty’s motives for treating her as they did may have been benign, this was irrelevant to the discriminatory treatment.

However, on the claim of constructive dismissal, the EAT found that the original tribunal had erred. For her constructive dismissal to be justified, Amnesty would have had to have committed a repudiatory breach of contract by acting without reasonable and proper cause in a manner likely to destroy or seriously damage the relationship of trust and confidence between employee and employer.

It was clear that Amnesty had acted in a serious and genuine way towards Miss Ahmed, and that no racial prejudice had been shown. Amnesty had been attempting to act in her best interests, so Miss Ahmed was not entitled to claim that the relationship of trust and confidence been irretrievably damaged.

Technorati Tags: Amnesty International, Constructive Dismissal, Race Discrimination