A TRADE union employee who alleges he was the victim of racial discrimination has told a tribunal that his boss "stood over" him as he sent an email to abandon an earlier claim against the organisation.
An employment tribunal heard today that Zaffir Hakim had previously raised a complaint against the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) and his boss, Grahame Smith, in May 2014 alleging racial discrimination.
However, Mr Hakim told the tribunal in Glasgow that general secretary Mr Smith was standing behind him when he sent the email.
He said: "When I withdrew my allegation, I sent it via email to my representative on December 19.
"Mr Smith had been standing over my shoulder when I did that."
Mr Smith said the claim was untrue.
He said that he and Mr Hakim had met on that day but that he left in the early afternoon for the staff's Christmas lunch.
He added: "After that I went to a pub in the West End before I eventually came back to pick up my car.
"I didn't see Mr Hakim again that day, and that was the start of my holiday over the festive period."
STUC solicitor Peter O'Donnell said Mr Hakim's current case was based on the claim that the STUC was "out to get" him following the 2014 allegation, but that this "wasn't the case".
Mr O'Donnell added: "I'll suggest to Mr Hakim that the clear reason his employment came to an end was because he was redundant and nothing to do with his race."
Mr Hakim, who worked within the STUC's anti-racism project One Workplace Equal Rights (OWER), is suing the body for unfair dismissal, race discrimination and victimisation, which the union denies.
The worker, who is of Pakistani origin, claims he was discriminated against by bosses when they made him redundant in March 2015, but kept on a white colleague in a similar role.
Mr Smith told the tribunal that Mr Hakim was made redundant because the Scottish Government refused to renew funding for his role.
Under questioning yesterday, Mr Hakim admitted that there were three vacant roles on other STUC projects at the time he was made redundant.
One of the vacancies was in the STUC "women in the workplace" section.
Mr Hakim claimed that he was too "shell shocked" by his dismissal to apply for another role in the STUC at the time.
The claimant and respondent must now send written submissions to the tribunal panel by September 9.
The panel will then give their judgment within the following four weeks.
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