1.Background & Vital statistics - Dispute with Law Society
- internal complaints that that I had bullied staff
-Ex Law Lord appointed to investigate complaints with 2 assessors from EAT
- Not surprisingly - KB found guilty
-Race and sex discrimination never considered by Law Society while investigation
ongoing despite being alerted to it by SBL and Association of Women Solicitors
- Started 3 years ago - still ongoing
- Victory at ET - 1st time Law Society found guilty of race and sex discrimination
- Law Society appealed - hearing in July this year
- Law Society now has spent over £3million on this case - from the funds
it collects from solicitors to allow them to practise
- Full details of case are on www.aboutkamlesh.co.uk
2. Resolutions - Imran Khan became involved last year as
he was appalled at the Law Society's response to judgement and ashamed how
the LS, his professional body has handled the matter
- To this day, the LS denies it discriminated - cannot bring itself to accept
the Tribunal decision
· LS has tried to minimise impact of judgement by saying "it was
found to be vicariously liable for unconscious discrimination by its former
President and former Head of Staff" - suggesting this type of discrimination
is somehow less serious
- IK called a number of special meetings of the Law Society to get the LS
to take action and address the institutional discrimination in its ranks.
He has asked for an Inquiry to be held into what happened - something the
LS is desperate to avoid at all costs
- LS used a mixture of delaying tactics and disinformation to defeat and delay
the resolutions.
- Noteworthy that in a postal ballot - 17.2 % of solicitors voting wanted
inquiry into allegations of institutional discrimination in LS
3. Election to the LS's Council - By a strange twist of
fate - KB and IK elected to the La's Council last year - KB to represent EM
sols and IK on immigration
- Campaign to address discrimination inside the LS has therefore begun
- What we have found is that LS has not learnt anything from the "Kamlesh
Bahl affair" - the same refusal to tackle discrimination in its ranks
exists, the same denials, same arrogance still remains.
- Reams of paper have been produced - a sparkling all singing all dancing
Equality and Diversity Strategy is there for all to see how the LS has changed
- But, LS still refuses to investigate how this appalling situation occurred
- it does not want to learn the lessons of what went wrong and change those
practices
4. Ongoing discrimination and Victimisation - More serious
is the ongoing discrimination and victimisation against me
· I asked the LS to pay my legal costs on the same basis as it is paying
the legal costs of those found guilty of discrimination - A legal opinion
form an eminent QC and two barristers was presented to them. They advised
that I was to be treated as a whistleblower - at great personal cost and expense
I have shown illegal practice in the organisation.
- They questioned how the LS could justify paying the legal costs of proven
discriminators
- But the LS refused to pay my costs in February.
· They said I have chosen to bring the proceedings and must take the
consequences.
- There are also other examples of discrimination and victimisation which
I cannot talk about as they are confidential.
5. Impact on me - I can't fully describe impact on me
· Destroyed my reputation, my career, and attacked my dignity and integrity
- Persecuted me relentlessly - their strategy has been to spin out the proceedings
and put as much pressure on me as possible so I will collapse
- They did succeed earlier this year - I has a breakdown in January and had
to go into hospital
- I did not want to come to speak today as I was not sure I could manage it
- but the organisers persuaded me this would be a supportive environment and
it would help me
- My therapist agreed so I am here.
6. Next steps - In this situation you ask yourself constantly
- how much more can you and your family take
- The resources they have are endless - mine are finite - we have spent £300,000.00
of our own money on this case
- But, my heart and my soul tell me I must fight
- I cannot allow this injustice to go unchallenged
- To do so at this stage would merely make the discriminators stronger - I
would become yet another person wiped out by their unfairness
- I have spent my life campaigning for truth and fairness for other - I must
fight the same battle for myself
- I know it is tough - I know I will collapse at times by my husband and I
will carry on as far as we are able to expose the truth - we regard that as
our destiny.Thank you for listening.