Lecturer wins race fight

MANCHESTER University has been found guilty of racial discrimination against a law lecturer. A lengthy legal battle ended in a tribunal decision last week.

The tribunal found that the university was "negative, inadequate, even hostile" to issues of equal opportunities following legal proceedings which upheld serious complaints raised by law lecturer Asif Hasan Qureshi. It found that the system of teaching assessment "allowed subjectivity a free reign - the excuse is the notion of academic judgement".

Dr Qureshi, 41, claimed that on several occasions he had been overlooked for senior lectureships because the decision-making process at the university was racially biased. He claimed that he had been victimised because of the legal proceedings he was bringing against the university.

Dr Qureshi lost his initial tribunal but on appeal gained a fresh hearing. The second tribunal found that the university did unlawfully discriminate against Dr Qureshi in his attempts to gain promotion in 1992, 1993 and 1994.

It also found that the university and the second respondent, professor of law Rodney Brazier, discriminated against him and victimised him when refusing an application for study leave.

Compensation for Dr Qureshi will be decided at a later hearing. Dr Qureshi and the university declined to comment on the case.