Police have case to answer

Strathclyde Police have conceded they may have a case to answer in the situation where they rejected Mr Graeme McCullie as a potential recruit to their force.

Mr McCullie, of Kilmarnock, completed the force's rigorous selection procedure but was told he would not be admitted because of his colour vision.

Following articles on the BBC website and in the Scottish Daily Express and The Herald, Mr McCullie became aware that it might be possible to have his case resolved through an Employment Tribunal on the grounds that his rejection amounted to sex discrimination.

Although it was not possible for Mr McCullie to submit his claim within the normally permitted time limits, at an Employment Tribunal hearing in Glasgow on Monday 3 September 2007 Strathclyde Police conceded that "justice and equity" would permit his claim to procede to a full hearing of his case at a later date.

However, Strathclyde Police agreed to no such concession in the case of a second man rejected by them for the same reasons. In a case which is continuing, Mr Robin Dixon has now to plead that his case should also be heard despite being "out of time".

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2 colour blind cops sue for discrimination

from the Evening Times Tuesday September 4 2007

Two men are sueing the Chief Constable of Strathclyde Police for sex discrimination - after being rejected as recruits because they are colour blind.

Robin Dixon, 25, of Hamilton and Graeme Mccullie, 29 of Kilmarnock, both went through a selection procedure before being told they were unsuccessful.

But they have taken their case to an employment tribunal, claiming more men than women suffer from the condition, so they are the victims of indirect sex discrimination.

Mr Dixon had previously pursued a disability discrimination claim in November 2005, but that was rejected by another tribunal because it was time-barred.

The tribunal heard that at the time of his application to be a police officer he was told by Chief Inspector Douglas Campbell there were concerns as to the reliability and credibility of evidence, which would rely on Mr Dixon's ability to distinguish colours.

The case continues.

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Colour blind recruits accuse police boss of sex discrimination

from the Scottish Daily Mail 4 September 2007

by Fiona Davidson

Two men told they could not join Scotland's biggest police force because they are colour blind are suing its chief constable - for sex discrimination.

Robin Dixon and Graeme McCullie applied to join Strathclyde Police and went through a rigorous selection procedure.

However they were told they had failed in their bid to join the force because they are colour blind.

The two men claim the decision was discriminatory on the basis that more men than women suffer from the condition and have taken their case to en employment tribunal.

Mr Dixon, 25, from Hamilton, Lanarkshire, has previously pursued a disability discrimination claim against Strathclyde Police as a result of his failed job application in November 2005.

That complaint was rejected by a Glasgow employment tribunal in August last year on the grounds that it was time barred.

However he has since discovered he may be able to pursue an indirect sex discrimination claim after reading of a case in England involving a colour blind police officer who raised an action against Hertfordshire Constabulary.

In that case, an officer suffered discrimination because his colour blindness meant he could not distinguish shades of green. An industrial tribunal confirmed that this could amount to indirect sex discrimination.

Mr Dixon told a preliminary hearing held in Glasgow yesterday to decide if his sex discrimination is time-barred that he was rejected by Strathclyde Police in November 2005 because of a colour vision abnormality.

He siad it was only after reading news reports that he learned about the Hertfordshire case and lodged his sex discrimination claim within a week.

However Strathclyde Police argued his family was aware of the English case prior to the publication of newspaper articles.

The tribunal heard Mr Dixon had previously been advised by Strathclyde Police that there were no reasonable adjustments that would enable him to carry out operational policing duties.

He was told at a meeting with Chief Inspector Douglas Campbell that he would have made a good police constable but his application would not be progressed.

Mr Dixon had highlighted a police circular about eyesight standards but Strathclyde Police said it was for guidance only and ultimately the decision rested with the Chief Constable, William Rae.

Mr Campbell told Mr Dixon there were concerns about not only his own health and safety but also that of other officers and the public.

The officer said there were worries over the reliability and credibility of any evidence he might have to give and said Mr Dixon's ability to distinguish colours could be called into question.

Mr McCullie, 28, from Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, whose application was rejected by Strathclyde Police in December 2005, lodged his sex discrimination claim after reading press reports last year.

The case continues.

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Police recruits in colour blindness discrimination claim

from Workplace Law 5 September 2007

Two police recruits turned down for positions because they have a form of colour-blindness only found in men, are claiming sex discrimination.

Graeme McCullie and Robin Dixon are taking the Strathclyde Police Force to an Employment Tribunal because they claim the force’s decision was discriminatory.

Strathclyde Police, the largest police force in Scotland, has rejected eight candidates in the last three years for having a form of colour-blindness that disables them from seeing different shades of colour, believing that employing officers with the condition would raise various safety issues.

Dixon previously lost a disability discrimination claim against Strathclyde Police over the same issue, but a recent case in England has found that a colour-blind officer faced indirect sexual discrimination because this type of colour-blindness only affects men. Candidates turned down by Strathclyde could now use this precedent to bring cases against the force.

Peter O'Donnell, of the Equal Opportunities Commission Scotland, commented that:

"The onus will be on the police force to show that they were trying to achieve a legitimate aim and the action they took was proportionate."

Colour-blindness is still yet to be classed as a disability under the Disability Discrimination Act.

Lynn Welsh, the Disability Rights Commission's Head of Scottish Legal Affairs, called for clarification over the issue of colour-blind recruits.

“It depends on whether it has a substantial long-term effect on the person's ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.”

The new Tribunal claim – that Dixon and McCullie are being discriminated against because of their sex – is currently in the preliminary stages.

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Police bring out big guns

Strathclyde have brought the might of their legal services against two legally unrepresented men who have lodged Sex Discrimination claims against them.

The two men had their applications to become police officers rejected because of colour vision abnormality and Strathclyde Police are seeking to prevent the cases being tested before a full hearing of an employment tribunal.

At a preliminary hearing in the Employment Tribunal, Glasgow, Strathclyde Police used the "public purse" to bring in Advocate Peter Grant-Hutchison to assist their own Legal Services Manager, in an endeavour to prevent their claims being heard.

Peter Grant-Hutchison, a specialist in Employment Law and former Labour candidate for the Eastwood, is also a part-time Sheriff and holds several other significant legal positions.

The two men would have been acceptable for employment in other Scottish and UK police forces. An employment tribunal in England has previously questioned the need for identification of shades of colour in general police work.

The case continues.

Webster v. Chief Constable of Hertfordshire Constabulary [2000] ET/200687/99

Webster v. Chief Constable of Hertfordshire Constabulary is a case taken to the Employment Tribunal in London in 2000 on the ground of Sex Discrimination. In this case it was found that a male officer had been discriminated against because of colour blindness.

The police officer in question had been removed from operational police duties after, 10 years of service with Hertfordshire Constabularly, because he suffered from a particular type of colour blindness (a moderate deuteranomalous loss of colour vision), which meant that he could not distinguish between different shades of green.

He had declared the dficiency when he applied to the Force. 7% of men and 0.5% of women have hereditary defective colour vision. He alleged the need to have perfect colour vision was not justifiable.

The Employment Tribunal balanced the needs of the Force against the effects on Mr Webster and concluded that he had been indirectly dicriminated against on the grounds of his sex.

The Employment Tribunal questioned whether a person accused of murder would be acquitted because a witness could not distinguish a particular shade of green.

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Links

• XpertHR
• Learning the Lessons from Employment Tribunals (some Police Myths)
• Police Employment Discrimination

Discrimination case over colour-blindness

from The Herald 4 September 2007

TWO would-be police officers have taken the chief constable of Scotland’s largest force to an employ ment tribunal claiming sex discrimination after being rejected because they are colour-blind.

Robin Dixon, 25 , and Graeme McCullie, 28, both applied to join Strathclyde Police and went through a rigorous selection procedure before being advised their applications were unsuccessful. The two have now started sex discrimination proceedings before an employment tribunal on the basis that, since more men than women suffer from the condition, they are therefore the victims of indirect sex discrimination.

Police accused of discrimination

from BBC News Website - Monday 3 September 2007

Rejected police recruits have taken Scotland's largest force to an employment tribunal over claims they were the victims of sex discrimination.

The two candidates were turned down by the Strathclyde force because they have a form of colour-blindness usually only found in men.

Robin Dixon and Graeme McCullie claim the decision was discriminatory.

A preliminary meeting of the tribunal has been listening to debates over whether the case should be time-barred.

Strathclyde Police believes that employing officers with the colour-blindness condition would raise safety issues.

Mr Dixon had previously lost a similar claim under disability discrimination legislation.

The case continues.

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the above article is also carried on the Critical Estoppel website and on Journalisted