A decision by an employment tribunal that a solicitor was unfairly dismissed on the grounds of race discrimination, is to be appealed by the council involved.
Essex Legal Services (ELS) will contest the ruling last month that Evelyne Jarrett lost her job because of her race, and further deny their legal chief, Philip Thomson, made ‘inappropriate references to Hitler’.
At the employment tribunal, Jarrett claimed that during a restructuring in April 2012, she was treated ‘unfairly, unreasonably and inconsistently’ and was the only solicitor to lose their job.
She further alleged that Thomson – also the president of Lawyers in Local Government – had made ‘positive references’ to Hitler, which the tribunal upheld, saying that the comment had probably been made, and that it was potentially offensive to any person of ethnic minority origins.
Her complaints of harassment, victimisation and unfair dismissal were also upheld. The tribunal further found that Jarrett had been incorrectly denied redundancy payments – due to her refusal to take alternative employment – on the basis that it was reasonable for her to find the work unsuitable as she had sufficient grounds to believe she was being dealt with unfairly.
A spokesperson for Essex County Council confirmed that they would be appealing the judgment of the employment tribunal, adding: “We are firmly committed to equality and diversity in the workplace and we value and respect all our employees.”