LONDON: An employment tribunal has dismissed and struck out a £673,000 (Rs 672 lakh) claim made against British Sikh Tory peer and donor Lord Ranger and his former company, Sun Mark, declaring the case brought by an Indian Sikh female employee to be “vexatious”.
The woman, who earlier waived her right to anonymity, destroyed crucial evidence, the employment tribunal in Watford found, following a hearing on January 9 and 10, 2023.
Employment judge Hyams struck out her claim relating to harassment and discrimination against Ranger, Sun Mark’s CEO Harmeet Ahuja and Sun Mark whereby she was seeking compensation of £673,000, claiming she would suffer future loss through having to return to live in India and would earn much less there than in the UK where her salary had been Rs 30 lakh per year.
Claims for unfair dismissal and victimisation were withdrawn.
In striking out the case, judge Hymans described the woman’s conduct “plainly scandalous, unreasonable and vexatious”.
The claim brought by her centred on a phone call that she had covertly recorded on a mobile, without Ranger’s knowledge, on October 5, 2018 in which she alleged Ranger had made derogatory remarks to her and a notepad in which she claimed to have recorded events that relate to her claim.
She told the tribunal that she had since broken the mobile device into pieces and thrown it into the river in Hayes as it contained intimate pictures of her and her husband pre-marriage and “in our religion and culture we are not allowed to have physical relationships before marriage. If my fiancé had withdrawn from getting married or I had, he could have leaked those photos.”
She also claimed her husband had “burnt” the notepad as he was so upset by its contents.
The judge found her explanation for the destruction of the phone and notepad to be “nonsense” and implausible. He concluded she either did not destroy them at all and had lied, or if she did she only did so once she knew there was a real chance their forensic inspection might be ordered by the court and she was worried they may find something that could undermine her claim.
Hymans ruled that “a fair hearing was no longer possible”, pointing out Ranger may have been “deliberately provoked” in the call as the whole phone conversation recording was never disclosed.
An English translation of the phone call, held in Punjabi, done by Atlas Translations, was found to contain statements which were never said by Ranger, once an impartial translation was done.
Sun Mark said: “The last four years have taken an unspeakable toll on the Ranger and Sun Mark family. We are pleased with the right outcome to the case.”
The woman, who earlier waived her right to anonymity, destroyed crucial evidence, the employment tribunal in Watford found, following a hearing on January 9 and 10, 2023.
Employment judge Hyams struck out her claim relating to harassment and discrimination against Ranger, Sun Mark’s CEO Harmeet Ahuja and Sun Mark whereby she was seeking compensation of £673,000, claiming she would suffer future loss through having to return to live in India and would earn much less there than in the UK where her salary had been Rs 30 lakh per year.
Claims for unfair dismissal and victimisation were withdrawn.
In striking out the case, judge Hymans described the woman’s conduct “plainly scandalous, unreasonable and vexatious”.
The claim brought by her centred on a phone call that she had covertly recorded on a mobile, without Ranger’s knowledge, on October 5, 2018 in which she alleged Ranger had made derogatory remarks to her and a notepad in which she claimed to have recorded events that relate to her claim.
She told the tribunal that she had since broken the mobile device into pieces and thrown it into the river in Hayes as it contained intimate pictures of her and her husband pre-marriage and “in our religion and culture we are not allowed to have physical relationships before marriage. If my fiancé had withdrawn from getting married or I had, he could have leaked those photos.”
She also claimed her husband had “burnt” the notepad as he was so upset by its contents.
The judge found her explanation for the destruction of the phone and notepad to be “nonsense” and implausible. He concluded she either did not destroy them at all and had lied, or if she did she only did so once she knew there was a real chance their forensic inspection might be ordered by the court and she was worried they may find something that could undermine her claim.
Hymans ruled that “a fair hearing was no longer possible”, pointing out Ranger may have been “deliberately provoked” in the call as the whole phone conversation recording was never disclosed.
An English translation of the phone call, held in Punjabi, done by Atlas Translations, was found to contain statements which were never said by Ranger, once an impartial translation was done.
Sun Mark said: “The last four years have taken an unspeakable toll on the Ranger and Sun Mark family. We are pleased with the right outcome to the case.”