A university has been found to have discriminated against an Indian lecturer on the grounds of race after it failed to reappoint her for a job she had been doing for five years, replacing her with a white candidate with no experience of the role.
Dr Kajal Sharma was one of only two senior lecturers at the University of Portsmouth who were not reappointed to their jobs when their contract came to an end, while 11 out of 12 white colleagues were successful, an employment tribunal heard.
In a damning judgment, the tribunal ruled that Sharma was the victim of subconscious discrimination and described the selection process as being “tainted by race discrimination”.
The fact that she was not reappointed to her job was “extraordinary” and should have raised questions. “Instead, the fact that a senior member of the academic staff who was a BAME woman was not reappointed to a post was ignored by the university.”
