Gay black police officer wins discrimination case

Detective constable Kevin Maxwell had sued the Metropolitan police for race and sex discrimination

guardian.co.uk, Ben Quinn, Monday 20 February 2012

Kevin Maxwell has won his case of racial and sexual discrimination
against the Metropolitan police'. Photograph: Alastair Grant/AP

A gay black police officer who accused Scotland Yard of racial and sexual discrimination has won his case at an employment tribunal, which also found that another officer deliberately leaked a "distorted account" of the details of the claim to the Sun newspaper.

Detective Constable Kevin Maxwell, 33, sued the Met for race and sex discrimination after he was abused by colleagues while working in the counter-terrorism unit at Heathrow airport's terminal five.

Folllowing a 36-day hearing in which Maxwell said he was used as a "buffer" when ethnic minority passengers were stopped at Heathrow, the Metropolitan police was heavily criticised by a judge at a Reading employment tribunal for failing to train officers to deal with ethnic minorities. The tribunal found that Maxwell was required to stop black and Asian people and then hand them over to white officers. It judged that his claim of direct racial discrimination was correct.

Maxwell said he had been subjected to harassment on the grounds of sexual orientation in March 2009 when a detective from Special Branch made comments in his presence about gay men.

A tribunal judge, Richard Byrne, said: "The tribunal makes the observation that it is very surprising given the resources of the respondent [Metropolitan police] and a well-drafted reporting wrongdoing policy that the respondent failed to train officers in the application of the policy and failed to comply with it on this occasion."

The panel was also told how Maxwell had been at a presentation at Paddington police station in London during which reference was made to a photograph of a man in a fairground surrounded by children and that he was "as gay as a gay in a gay tea shop."

Byrne said: "The comment having been made and other people in the room, including other supervisors, laughing and finding it amusing was inevitably conduct that a gay police officer would reasonably consider as having the effect of violating their dignity and creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them."

Following the incidents, Maxwell went on extended sick leave but was said to have been treated dismissively by senior officers during this period.

When raised his concerns by telling told a chief inspector it was "difficult being black and gay", the senior officer said: "That's life". Byrne ruled this was direct discrimination on the grounds of race and sexual orientation, along with harassment.

Ruling on the claim by Maxwell's partner, Alex Parr, that details had been leaked to the Sun newspaper about the claims, Byrne said, "The tribunal is entirely satisfied on the evidence heard that on the balance of probabilities the information about the claimant's case acquired by the Sun came from an officer working for the respondent."

On this matter, a spokesperson for the Independent Police Complaints Commission confirmed it was supervising an investigation by the Metropolitan police directorate of professional standards into a complaint.