Charity worker claims discrimination

A FORMER senior manager with homeless charity Simon yesterday told a tribunal she was forced to quit her job because being she was black and female.

Tabish Din, originally from Kenya, told a constructive dismissal hearing at the Employment Appeals Tribunal about a litany of complaints against the charity’s Dublin organisation, where she worked for two years up to April 2004.

She claimed she frequently had to work until 8 or 9pm because of her heavy workload and could not take time off in lieu. However, she said her bosses refused to hire the same level of help for her that all other managers of her rank had.

She said she was left to prepare the building where she and her staff were to work, even having to draft in her husband to help.

She offered to give in-house training sessions to save money on costly external consultants but was ignored. She tried to attend equality workshops but was not given the time.

Finally, she said that a key project was taken from her while she was on holiday and she only learned that she had been assigned to other duties via email.

Barrister Cathrina Keville said her client could see she was being treated differently from her peers and the only conclusion she could come to was that it was because of her race and gender.

Dublin Simon Community strenuously denied the claims, arguing that Ms Din’s role in the charity was a new one and not directly comparable to those of the other senior managers.

She was to take charge of a resettlement project, moving clients on from emergency shelter to long-term accommodation and securing training and employment placements.

Simon employee Paul Traynor told the tribunal he was aware Ms Din had some frustrations but he attributed them to the difficulties inherent in any new project.

He rejected the claim that any racism or sexism was exhibited. “I never saw any evidence of that. It went very contrary to what is engrained in us - to treat people with dignity. It went against the whole philosophy of what Dublin Simon stood for.”

Pat Claffey, who was Ms Din’s immediate superior, also rejected her claims. He denied she had been misled about the level of help she would have and said she had never supplied details of any incidents of alleged racial or sexual discrimination.

The tribunal’s ruling will be delivered at a later date.