Thursday, November 20, 2008

Asian worker whose colleagues mocked up pictures of him sitting beside bin Laden sues firm for £50,000

An Asian worker whose colleague created fake photos of him sitting in a cave with Osama bin Laden is suing his former firm for £50,000.

IT manager Vinod Rajdev says that workmates at software provider Civica routinely taunted him that he was an al Qaeda terrorist 'mastermind'.
Mr Rajdev complains that his face was superimposed on to that of bin Laden's right-hand-man Ayman al-Zawahiri in a famous photo of the two terror chiefs.
He arrived at his desk to find two mock-up photos - one framed - showing him alongside bin Laden in a hideout with an AK47 rifle by his side.

Mr Rajdev, 58, alleges that he was also called a 'Paki' and 'Corner shop' by colleagues.
And he says that he was nicknamed 'Shahbaz'  after gay Pakistani contestant Shahbaz Chauhdry on Channel 4 reality show Big Brother 7.
Mr Rajdev, who is of Indian origin, is claiming constructive unfair dismissal, religious and race discrimination against Civica.
Civica, which supplies software to 90 per cent of Britain's local authorities, denies his claims.
It has said that the photo was part of office 'banter' and that Mr Rajdev had joined in jokes that he was an al Qaeda leader.

In legal papers submitted to Bedford Employment Tribunal, Mr Rajdev tells how he had worked as a computer programmer since 1998.
Married father-of-three Mr Rajdev, of Kingsbury, north-west London, says that the racist abuse began at Civica's Luton office in November 2005, where he was a senior programmer and team leader.
He says that the ringleader, Mark Davis, used the famous 2001 photo of bin Laden with his second in command to humiliate him.
He says: 'In March 2007, Mark Davis placed framed photos of Osama bin Laden and myself together on my desk.

'The entire staff broke into laughter when I came into work and found the photos.'
In May 2006, Mr Davis allegedly shouted 'Shahbaz' at Mr Rajdev as he arrived at work every day for a week.
He says: 'It was explained to me that Shahbaz was a Pakistani gay participant in the television programme Big Brother.
'I was further embarrassed when I learned from internet research that Shahbaz had stated "I'm a wacky poof without a corner shop".
'I further learned that he was a gay Muslim, wanted to be reincarnated as a woman so that he could have children, idolised the 1980s pop star Marilyn, who dressed in women's clothes and wore make-up, and that men were afraid of his flamboyant personality.'
Mr Rajdev says that Civica chiefs took projects away from him and handed them to more junior white colleagues.
He says: 'This was clear favouritism to white staff. I felt isolated and humiliated by these acts.'
Mr Rajdev says that his bosses ignored his complaints and talked him out of resigning several times.

He eventually quit his £42,000-a-year post in November last year.
In legal papers submitted by Civica to the tribunal, it says that Mr Davis was given a final written warning for creating the photo of Mr Rajdev and bin Laden.
It said that two years earlier Mr Rajdev used 'gallows humour' when discussing the issue of terrorism with colleagues.
It said: 'Mr Rajdev had stated that if he were Osama bin Laden he would bomb the London Underground.

'Coincidentally, this then happened in July 2005.
'From that point onward, Mr Rajdev and Mr Davis had joked that Mr Rajdev was the mastermind behind al Qaeda.
'Mr Rajdev had been a party to this banter, even jokingly threatening Mr Davis to be careful when he visited London in case he had planted a bomb.'
It says that at the time Mr Rajdev had regarded the photo as no more than a 'bit of fun' and joined in all the 'office banter'.

Mr Radjev's lawyer Joe Sykes said: 'We say that this was humiliation of an Asian worker which was crude and brutal discrimination and that the company should have held the culprits to account.
'Instead of backing the team leader, they gave his projects to junior team members and allowed the situation to escalate.'
A Civica spokesman said: 'Civica is aware of the court case involving the former employee, which is being resolutely defended.
'Since there are ongoing legal proceedings, we cannot comment until everything is resolved. We are looking forward to a swift resolution of this matter.'

Mr Radjev's case is due to be heard next year.
Islam is invading British life of the non muslim Brit - from the cradle to the grave as dhimmi politicians and educators herd British adults and children down the one way street of Islamisation.

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