Guest blog by Philip Grant
2. Why is Cllr. Butt still “protecting” these two senior officers, when he has known about their misconduct in the Rosemarie Clarke case since at least September 2014?
This week’s
“Brent & Kilburn Times” carries an article, “Council to revamp its
equalities policies” on page 5. I am glad to see that, rather than simply
repeating Brent’s press release about Cllr. Pavey’s review, the article also
reminds readers about the Employment Tribunal case which gave rise to it,
referring to ‘the treatment endured by Ms Clarke from her line manager, HR
director Ms Davani’, and concluding:
‘Brent Council has refused to disclose if any disciplinary action would
be taken against Ms Davani.’
After reading
Cllr. Pavey’s report last weekend, I sent an email letter to the editor of our
local newspaper, which I hoped would be published in the same issue as any
story about the results of his review. Unfortunately, the “Brent & Kilburn
Times” did not have room for it in this week’s edition, carrying instead (on
page 15) two very good letters about vital services threatened by the Council’s
proposed budget cuts. My letter included two important questions addressed to
the Leader of Brent Council, Cllr. Butt, and as I believe these questions
should be put to him publicly, I have asked Martin if he would “publish” my
letter here. I know that Cllr. Butt may not be a “Wembley Matters” reader, but
I will ensure that he, and his colleagues, receive a copy of this letter.
Dear Editor,
A lesson not learned
by Brent's HR review
In September 2014 an Employment
Tribunal found that former Brent Council employee, Rosemarie Clarke, had been
constructively dismissed, directly discriminated against because of her race,
and victimised by both the Council and its Director of HR, Cara Davani.
Brent Council responded by appealing
against the Employment Tribunal judgement, and by asking its Deputy Leader,
Cllr. Michael Pavey, to review its HR policies and practice ‘to ensure that we
learn lessons from this case’.
In December 2014, a judge threw out the
Council’s appeal as it had ‘no reasonable prospect of success’, because ‘none
of the grounds disclose any reasonable ground of appeal’. The report on Cllr.
Pavey’s review was presented to the Council’s General Purposes Committee last
week. Although it shows that a great deal of effort has gone in to suggesting
improvements to Brent’s HR and Equalities policies, the report does nothing
about the key lesson which should have been learned from this case: that even the best HR policies and practices are of
little use if the officers who should follow them are allowed to ignore them.
The detailed evidence in the Employment
Tribunal judgement showed that the victimisation began after Rosemarie had the
courage to complain about the bullying and harassment she felt she was
suffering from her line manager, Ms Davani. It also showed that the
victimisation continued over a number of months, and that interim Chief
Executive, Christine Gilbert, failed to stop the victimisation when it was
brought to her attention, or to follow the Council’s own grievance procedures,
so that Brent was found guilty of breaching its employment contract with Ms
Clarke.
The actions of these two senior
officers have brought the Council into disrepute, as well as leaving it liable to
massive compensation, damages and costs, but no action appears to have been
taken against them. The Council Leader, Cllr. Muhammed Butt, does not appear to
have made any public statement about the case, and has not replied to several
emails I have written to him about it. When he became Leader in May 2012 he
told your newspaper that under him the Council would be ‘more open and
transparent’.
I hope that Cllr. Butt will honour that
promise, and give Brent’s staff and residents his answers to the following
questions:-
1. How can staff have confidence in the
Council’s latest round of job cuts, when it is being presided over by two
senior officers responsible for victimisation, racial discrimination and
failing to follow the Council’s HR procedures?
2. Why is Cllr. Butt still “protecting” these two senior officers, when he has known about their misconduct in the Rosemarie Clarke case since at least September 2014?
Yours faithfully,
Philip Grant.
