Black Metropolitan Police firearms officer makes Employment Tribunal race discrimination claim

MoJA Black firearms officer has made a claim for discrimination in the Employment Tribunal against the Metropolitan Police after she alleged that she had been bullied by a senior officer, the Daily Mail has reported.

Ms Carol Howard, 34, is suing the Metropolitan Police for race and sex discrimination after claiming that she had been discriminated against, bullied, and harassed by an allegedly aggressive inspector on the police force. She claimed that Acting Inspector Dave Kelly had subjected her to the following conduct during the course of her employment as a firearms officer:

  • That he had once allegedly “scolded” her in front of other senior officers while he was carrying a Taser and a handgun
  • That he had allegedly monitored her Facebook account where she had posted pictures of her in a bikini
  • That he had allegedly “spied” on her through CCTV

A colleague of Ms Howard’s, PC Gary Flaherty, who gave evidence at the Employment Tribunal stated in his witness statement that: “[Acting Inspector Kelly] got a reputation for aggressive and intrusive management and for generally being a bully.” He also stated under cross-examination that Ms Howard had told him on occasion that she felt she had been treated badly because she was both black and/or because she was a woman.

Ms Howard is pursuing Employment Tribunal claims for sex-related harassment, race-related harassment, direct race discrimination, and direct sex discrimination against Metropolitan Police on the grounds (respectively) that she was subjected to unwanted conduct and less favourable treatment because of her race and/or sex.

The Metropolitan Police stated that it would defend the claims “robustly”.

No comment appears to have been made by Ms Howard at this time.

Chris Hadrill, an employment solicitor at Redmans, commented on the case: “Employers must be careful to ensure that complaints of discrimination, harassment, and victimization in the workplace are treated with the utmost seriousness – and that they have in place equal opportunities policies and training  – to minimize the risk of an Employment Tribunal claim.”