Whistleblower fights Bradford Council Over Racism
Donation protected
“It is quite rare to find such compelling evidence of what is, I’m afraid to say, a cover-up…this is far from an oversight.” – Barrister Elaine Banton.
We are friends of Shaqib Juneja, and are seeking financial help for Shaqib. Please keep reading....
Who is Shaqib?
Shaqib Juneja is currently the Head of Operations at My Family Group UK, an umbrella organisation that promotes and encourages Muslim communities to engage with civil society to support children in care. He has a strong background in education, and worked as an Education Safeguarding Officer with Bradford City Council between September 2019 and July 2021.
Victim of Bullying
In April 2021, Shaqib resigned from his role as Education Safeguarding Officer, following months of what he describes as bullying, racial discrimination, and an escalating behaviour of marginalisation, exclusion and undermining of his work. In December 2022, he took his employers to the Employment Tribunal, describing events that start very early on in 2019 as deferential treatment and behaviour towards staff based on race. The council contests the charges.
Witnessing Race Discrimination / Systemic Racism
In December 2020, Shaqib witnessed what he saw as clear racial discrimination towards two non-white candidates for a council vacancy. Shaqib says he felt he was appointed a 'token' panellist to rubber stamp this. Following this, on advice from colleagues he made a Public Interest Disclosure to the council CEO and Director of HR, thereby becoming a Whistle-Blower protected by law. He also discovered practices inconsistent with the council's own equality guidelines, and identified what appeared to be a systematic way of promoting preferred white candidates over more qualified non-white individuals. Despite the risk to himself and his career progression, he made a further Public Interest Disclosure, and raised a grievance.
Despite assurances to investigate, grievances were ignored, and the bullying escalated to a level that Shaqib was marginalised, made to work to unreasonable standards on a major project he spearheaded; had this work ultimately undermined and pulled in the eleventh hour; and denied reasonable requests in the context of family illness. Due to the toll on his mental health for which he sought professional help, he felt he had no choice but to resign.
What help is needed?
A few months ago, we became aware of the case, and offered to help fund a legal campaign by a reputable legal team competent enough to support Shaqib against an a well-funded local authority like Bradford council. Without this financial support, Shaqib would not have been able to put his case forward. Due to time-constraints, however, personal loans were kindly offered by a few individuals to bridge the gap. However, these need to be paid off, and we have agreed to take his burden from Shaqib at a time that he should be concentrating on the case.
Why should you support Shaqib?
- It takes an enormous amount of courage for anyone to whistle-blow – how much harder would this be for a BME member to blow the whistle around systemic racism within a local government as prominent as Bradford City Council? With this in mind, we feel that no person principled enough to take this burden on themselves should ever feel regret for taking such a bold step, simply because they were not in a financial position to stand up.
- Systemic racism is still common in the UK. The Council, and any institution, should be aware that racism will not be taken lightly, and that there should be consequences for any inequity meted out on any individual on the basis of their race, and more so within Bradford, which has been a focal point for race riots in the UK (with riots in 1995 and then again in 2001).
- Any discrimination towards a person, based on race or other protected characteristics, is illegal – and anything that seeks to undermine the legal framework within the UK will inevitably come back to affect everyone in society.
Therefore - if you stand for justice and equality, support Shaqib!
Legal team
Shaqib has been represented by a fantastic legal team including Zillur Rahman – The Times 'Lawyer of the Week' from May 2022 – and Elaine Banton, who was named The Lawyer’s Barrister of the Week in November 2021.
Zillur is a partner at Rahman Lowe Solicitors, an Employment Firm recognised as one of the leading law firms in the country. Elaine Banton of 7BR Barristers Chambers has a long established history of representing clients in discrimination and equality case. Both are highly regarded in their areas and both have been recognised in both the Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners.
How will the money be used?
The final installment of the legal costs came to £18,600, to be payable to Rahman Lowe Solicitors (www.rllaw.co.uk), which included the cost of the Barrister Elaine Banton of 7BR Barristers Chambers (https://www.7br.co.uk/barrister/elaine-banton/).
Due to insufficient time to raise the funds at the time, this amount was loaned to us by local community members in November 2022, with the express purpose of paying to Rahman Lowe the amount due for Shaqib's case, with the condition that the cost would be returned within four months. The amount was paid to Rahman Lowe at that time.
Thus the amount raised will be used to pay back the loans given for the payment to Rahman Lowe Solicitors.
Documentation reflecting the above is available on request.
Organizer
Umer Siddique
Organizer