MUSLIM EMPLOYEES
Sacked
computer software engineer who tried to sue aerospace company boss for racism
because she used the word 'other' has his claim thrown out
Fazal Ahmad
was sacked by Rosemount Aerospace, Malvern, after four months
Dr Ahmad, of
Asian background, claimed his dismissal was due to discrimination
Developer
tried to sue his boss for racism as she used the word 'other' in an email
A judge threw
out his claim, saying he was sacked due to the quality of his work
By KATE DENNETT FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 10:36
EDT, 16 September 2021
A senior
computer software engineer tried to sue his aerospace company boss for
racism because she had used the word 'other' in an email.
Dr Fazal Ahmad
was sacked by Rosemount Aerospace, based in Malvern, Worcestershire, after just
four months for failing to develop a prototype artificial intelligence system.
But the
developer, who is of Asian background, claimed his dismissal was due to
discrimination, a tribunal held in Birmingham heard.
Dr Ahmad, who
earned £63,000 a year, claimed that his boss' use of the word 'other' in an
email she sent when talking about his colleagues was racist.
But an
employment tribunal judge has thrown out his claim, saying his sacking was
'in no sense whatsoever because of race' and the use of the word 'other' was
'entirely commonplace'.
In the email,
his boss Claire Knights said one of Dr Ahmad's colleagues had expressed
'frustration' that he got to 'play' with the 'fun machines' without delivering
much work, while 'other people have to do the less glamorous programme work'.
The tribunal
heard that Dr Ahmad was headhunted by Rosemount Aerospace as a machine learning
engineer in June 2019.
He was hired
to develop prototype artificial intelligence software for a client based in the
United Arab Emirates.
Dr Ahmad was
responsible for delivering the project, but failed to demonstrate any of his
work or progress at the first monthly meeting in August, the tribunal heard.
On that same
day, his boss Ms Knights received a complaint
about Dr Ahmad from intern Ryanne Binns.
She claimed he
was being condescending towards her in meetings, ignoring her, shutting down
her suggestions and then, later on, raising her suggestions as his own.
At the next
monthly meeting in September, Dr Ahmad again failed to present any of his work
and Ms Knights became 'concerned' about his progress,
the tribunal heard.
The following
day, Ms Knights had a one-to-one meeting with Ms Binns, who complained that she
did not know what Dr Ahmad was doing and claimed he would not explain.
These concerns
were echoed by two other senior members of Dr Ahmad's team, but Dr Ahmad told
the tribunal their concerns were all part of a 'conspiracy' against him.
Another
colleague, Dr Gary Smart, complained Dr Ahmad was 'not really delivering much'
and 'talked to him as if he was an idiot'.
Ms Knight was on holiday for the next
demonstration meeting but emailed other senior colleagues to keep her
informed.
She said: 'I
had a one-to-one with Gary yesterday where he expressed some frustration about
Fazal, specifically Fazal getting to 'play' with all the fun machine learning
work and not really delivering much, while other people have to do the less
glamorous programme work.'
This email,
with Ms Knight's use of the word 'other', was the
central point of Dr Ahmad's case that he had been discriminated against.
Employment
Judge Hilary Anne Harding said: 'He relied heavily on her use of the word
'other' in the second paragraph of the email to suggest that a distinction was
being drawn by her on racial grounds.
'[He]
initially invited us to infer from this sentence that Ms
Knights (and Dr Smart) were complaining that white people were being given the
boring jobs whilst non-white people were being given the fun jobs.
'We reject
that first interpretation not least because... one of the 'others' carrying out
the so-called 'boring' jobs was Ms Binns, who is black.
'[He] then
invited us to infer that Ms Knights and Dr Smart were
complaining that Asian men were being given the fun work whilst non-Asian
people were getting the boring work.
'It is clear
that Ms Knights used the word to distinguish between
[Dr Ahmad], doing machine learning work, and everyone else on the team doing
programming work.
'It is an
entirely commonplace use of the word 'other'.
'The
complaint... is obvious and straightforward and unrelated to race.
'It was a
complaint that [Dr Ahmad] had the best job on the team but was not delivering.
That is nothing to do with race and accordingly we draw no adverse inference
from this email.'
Dr Ahmad
failed to impress his colleagues at the October meeting and one was of the view
that the information he presented was 'likely downloaded from an online
tutorial'.
He was given
another chance at the next meeting, but Dr Smart claimed he had 'simply
used other people's work off the internet'.
Another colleague
said his work 'could have been done by a student in an afternoon'.
Dr Ahmad was
fired in October 2019, but he brought claims of racial discrimination to the
employment tribunal due to his boss' use of the word 'other' in the email.
Employment
Judge Harding threw out his claim, concluding: '[Dr Ahmad] was not performing
well enough in his role, and in particular [he] had not developed the prototype
that he was taken on to deliver.
'That is an
explanation that is in no sense whatsoever because of race.'
Muslims to March on Amazon Over Prayer Breaks
BY ROD KACKLEY
APRIL 21, 2017
PJ Media
Amazon may have issued a “declaration of support” in January for a
lawsuit against President Trump’s order to put a temporary halt to
immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries, but that hasn’t stopped
outraged Muslims from planning a May 1 demonstration at the front door of the
company’s headquarters in Seattle.
The Service Employees International Union and three Muslim guards who work for
Security Industry Specialists, the security contractor Amazon uses to guard its
facility, accuse SIS, and by implication Amazon, of refusing to allow the
guards space to pray five times daily, even though members of other religions
are granted the privilege of using prayer rooms.
Essag Hassan, a former SIS guard at Amazon, said he
was let go because of his request to be allowed to pray on his work break.
“I was fired and not given a reason why,” Hassan said. “I’m
speaking out for all Muslim security workers and for workers of any religion.
When you ask for a space to pray on your work break, that request should be
treated with respect.”
The SEIU told PJM “a strongly worded
letter” from the “Seattle faith community” would be delivered
to Amazon during the rally planned outside the company’s headquarters.
“Unlike other companies in locations with large Muslim populations,
Amazon has not supported Muslim service workers requesting space to pray during
their law-mandated work breaks,” the SEIU email to PJM said.
“Despite granting the high-earning tech workers conference rooms to pray
in, there appears to be a double standard for the contracted security officers
who protect the tech giant,” the SEIU email concluded.
The May 1 rally won’t be the first time SEIU and former SIS guards who
are Muslim have knocked at Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ front door.
The South Seattle Emerald reported in February “hundreds of devout
Muslims, clergy, labor unionists” and even some Amazon workers took part
in a prayer rally to demonstrate against SIS policy regarding prayer rooms.
“There’s been issues regarding religious prayers, [with some not
being] given a space to practice,” Ismahan
Ismail, a security specialist at Amazon, told the South Seattle Emerald.
“When I did speak up, I was actually retaliated against. I had someone
step on my prayer items.”