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I don’t like Muslims, Dyson manager told engineer

Cpt. Rishwat

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An Iranian woman who worked on the inventor’s doomed electric car project has won a case for religious discrimination

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An engineer who helped to develop an electric car for Britain’s richest man has won claims for religious discrimination and constructive unfair dismissal after a manager told her, “I do not like Muslims.”

Zeinab Alipourbabaie, 39, was a senior electronic engineer at Sir James Dyson’s bases in Wiltshire for four years. She resigned in 2018 after months of harassment and discrimination by a senior technical project manager, Kamaljit Chana, who is also a Conservative councillor in Harrow, northwest London.

Bristol employment tribunal found that in a one-to-one meeting with Alipourbabaie in February 2017, Chana, a Sikh, also said: “Muslims are violent” and “Pakistani men are grooming our girls.”

He excluded her from meetings and emails, criticised her unfairly to the company vice-president and advised against promoting her, the tribunal ruled.

Recalling the effect of Chana’s behaviour, Alipourbabaie, who is Iranian, said last week: “It had a huge impact on my life. I couldn’t sleep. It was like getting hit by a car or having an accident. Something I had no control over but hit me hard.”

Her line manager recommended her three times for promotion without result. The court said her resignation amounted to constructive unfair dismissal.

Because her visa depended on her job with Dyson, she had just eight weeks to find another job before she would have been forced to leave the country. She now works for a leading automotive company.

To resign and bring a case made her nervous. “I felt vulnerable because of that visa situation, because immigrants like me, we’re invited to this country but we have no friends, no family, we have to start from scratch,” Alipourbabaie said.

After an internal investigation found Chana had harassed and bullied her, he was given a final written warning but kept his job. He left this year after the electric car was dropped.

Giving Alipourbabaie’s account of the conversation that began months of harassment, the judgment said: “He asked if she was a Muslim and she replied that she came from a Muslim family ... he said ‘that he did not like Muslims ...

“Mr Chana talked about 9/11 and said his family did not take flights any more because they were scared ... He went on to say Pakistani men are grooming our girls.” Chana denied making the comments, but the tribunal ruled unanimously that Alipourbabaie’s version was “compelling and persuasive”. It noted that Chana did not deny the allegations in his initial grievance interview, saying he could not remember.


Dyson’s promotion system was found not to be discriminatory but the tribunal said it “lacks transparency” with “no formal system for assessing” employees.

Alipourbabaie was headhunted by Dyson in Italy in 2014, where she was working for Whirlpool after completing a master’s degree in Torino. Her family in Iran was not wealthy and she said her undergraduate degree in Tehran was only made possible after her grandmother insisted she take her life savings.

She said on Friday: “Yes, it’s terrible what Kam did to me, it’s terrible what HR did to me — but it’s good that I’m in a good country with a justice system that I trust.”

Her lawyer Leila Moran, of Leigh Day, said: “My client has fought bravely to bring this case to tribunal and the judgment is a powerful moral victory.”

Chana told the hearing: “I had never met someone from Iran before, so I commented that that was interesting and Iran seemed to be in the news a lot.” Last week he added: “My comments were not about whole community groups. This would be entirely unjust.” He said an appeal “is being considered”.

Dyson spent £500m on his electric car before concluding it was not commercially viable last October. The company said it had disciplined Chana for bullying, but had felt unable to rule on comments in a one-to-one conversation a year earlier. It said: “Dyson Automotive demanded a workplace free of discrimination, intimidation and harassment; it did not tolerate any form of unacceptable behaviour and treated any such allegations very seriously. These allegations were investigated fully and disciplinary action was taken against Kamaljit Chana who was found to have acted inappropriately. We have since launched mandatory ‘respect’ training for all our people.”

The Conservative Party said it would investigate if it received a complaint.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/i-dont-like-muslims-dyson-manager-told-engineer-bw3fl2hnw

James Dyson's name dragged besmirched by the antics of Indian origin employees. Please guys, leave your bigotry behind where it belongs.
 
James Dyson's name dragged besmirched by the antics of Indian origin employees. Please guys, leave your bigotry behind where it belongs.

Amazing isn't it. A nation with nearly 200 millions Muslims as their countrymen, you'd think Indians would be the last people to hate Muslims
 
Amazing isn't it. A nation with nearly 200 millions Muslims as their countrymen, you'd think Indians would be the last people to hate Muslims

I think what was more embarrassing was that this supposedly Sikh guy was laying all his issues about Pakistani guys dating Sikh girls on this poor Iranian woman who would have no idea why he was telling her this.
 
I think what was more embarrassing was that this supposedly Sikh guy was laying all his issues about Pakistani guys dating Sikh girls on this poor Iranian woman who would have no idea why he was telling her this.

His issue is with grooming Sikh girls. Not dating them. That being said, he is a bigot and deserved to be humiliated and fired.
 
Should be punished for this. But generalizing Sikhs or Indians because of this guy is simply another layer of bigotry. India has its fair share of communal problems but what happens with an Indian origin guy in UK or USA isn't our concern, he should be dealt with in accordance with laws in those countries. We are responsible only for what happens in India and we should do better, much worse stuff than slurs or bullying of minorities/Dalits happens in many parts of India.

Sikh angle is absurd, most Sikhs are fair, tolerant guys known for their generosity and humanity. Look at the Sikhs in India who side with the oppressed communities or the work of Khalsa Aid in war-torn countries. This chap is a rotten apple but which commuity doesn't have rotten apples? What does Kartarpur have to do with this? These kind of dog whistle messages are uncalled for.
 
First of all, this was wrong and it’s good that he has been punished.

However, on a side note, I have seen many women openly say that they hate men. When I questioned one, I was told that she’s just using her freedom of speech and by saying she hates men she isn’t harming anyone. Do you feel she is right? I want to hear a few opinions before I go back to her lol.
 
Should be punished for this. But generalizing Sikhs or Indians because of this guy is simply another layer of bigotry. India has its fair share of communal problems but what happens with an Indian origin guy in UK or USA isn't our concern, he should be dealt with in accordance with laws in those countries. We are responsible only for what happens in India and we should do better, much worse stuff than slurs or bullying of minorities/Dalits happens in many parts of India.

Sikh angle is absurd, most Sikhs are fair, tolerant guys known for their generosity and humanity. Look at the Sikhs in India who side with the oppressed communities or the work of Khalsa Aid in war-torn countries. This chap is a rotten apple but which commuity doesn't have rotten apples? What does Kartarpur have to do with this? These kind of dog whistle messages are uncalled for.

Don't confuse British Sikhs with Indian ones, Sikhs are a race in UK, cap just wanted to include Indian origin dig, leaving behind but the truth is UK has given Sikhs more power to be discriminatory and play the victim card at the same time, not forgetting their involvement in killing of terrorism activities.(which will never come out)

You need to meet the British Sikhs to get an idea how they are, Khalsa-Aid founder might be from UK as well, but he has absolutely no interest in being called Indian origin as well.

I absolutely can't wait for them to have their own census in UK, hopefully in 2021.
 
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Should be punished for this. But generalizing Sikhs or Indians because of this guy is simply another layer of bigotry. India has its fair share of communal problems but what happens with an Indian origin guy in UK or USA isn't our concern, he should be dealt with in accordance with laws in those countries. We are responsible only for what happens in India and we should do better, much worse stuff than slurs or bullying of minorities/Dalits happens in many parts of India.

Sikh angle is absurd, most Sikhs are fair, tolerant guys known for their generosity and humanity. Look at the Sikhs in India who side with the oppressed communities or the work of Khalsa Aid in war-torn countries. This chap is a rotten apple but which commuity doesn't have rotten apples? What does Kartarpur have to do with this? These kind of dog whistle messages are uncalled for.

This is an underlying theme though. sikhs pr is second to none, often appearing in media and football fans with turbans prominent. Their charity gets exposure and all faiths do charity
 
Nothing new here.

The most Anti-Muslim people are Indian Hindus and Sikhs simply because of their obsessive hate for Pakistan.

They would never say it to a Pakistani Males face here in the UK though.
 
Most Indians are bitter but can only abuse online or when(they think)in positions of power.

I remember around 5 Sikhs, the extremists version turned up to Bradford Mela many years ago. Shouting disgusting abuse against Muslims. You can guess in the type of transport they left in.

In the UK, Indians will never go up against Pakistani's, let alone Muslims who are vast in number now.
 
Most Indians are bitter but can only abuse online or when(they think)in positions of power.

I remember around 5 Sikhs, the extremists version turned up to Bradford Mela many years ago. Shouting disgusting abuse against Muslims. You can guess in the type of transport they left in.

In the UK, Indians will never go up against Pakistani's, let alone Muslims who are vast in number now.

I always felt in Brum relations between Muslims and Sikh are largely cordial excusing a few scuffles during celebrations in Handsworth, Hindu's on the other hand are only good for online verbals (don't blame them), Sikh's will at least show up on fight night lol
 
I always felt in Brum relations between Muslims and Sikh are largely cordial excusing a few scuffles during celebrations in Handsworth, Hindu's on the other hand are only good for online verbals (don't blame them), Sikh's will at least show up on fight night lol

Over the last couple of decades things have been mostly fine. It was mainly in the 80's, some issues. However there is another group called Sikh Youths UK who have started to become extreme in their views esp against Muslims but again the understand to remain silent in public. Hindus stick to the world wide web and connect with RSS from India via Skype :)
 
Amazing isn't it. A nation with nearly 200 millions Muslims as their countrymen, you'd think Indians would be the last people to hate Muslims

The higher the proportion of minorities, the more likely they are to be hated by the majority.

For example in the US, the state of Mississippi has a Black population of almost 40%. Yet its one of the most racist states in America.
 
First of all, this was wrong and it’s good that he has been punished.

However, on a side note, I have seen many women openly say that they hate men. When I questioned one, I was told that she’s just using her freedom of speech and by saying she hates men she isn’t harming anyone. Do you feel she is right? I want to hear a few opinions before I go back to her lol.

There are certain rules of society. Women can say they hate men without any repercussion. However a man cant say he hates women. It might not be fair, but that's how it is.

Same way if a female initiates a hug, or puts her hands on you its not a problem in society.

However if you do that, depending on how she feels, you could be labeled a creep, perv, get reprimanded, fired, go to jail, etc.
 
First of all, this was wrong and it’s good that he has been punished.

However, on a side note, I have seen many women openly say that they hate men. When I questioned one, I was told that she’s just using her freedom of speech and by saying she hates men she isn’t harming anyone. Do you feel she is right? I want to hear a few opinions before I go back to her lol.

People say they hate Jews and some hate white people or they might hate americans. everyone hates someone but only get offended when they are the target of hate.

Why would you care if she hates men?.
 
James Dyson's name dragged besmirched by the antics of Indian origin employees. Please guys, leave your bigotry behind where it belongs.

How common do you think this is?

I've not had any issues with Sikhs or Hindus, tend to get on fine in UK. Workplace remains professional.
 
How common do you think this is?

I've not had any issues with Sikhs or Hindus, tend to get on fine in UK. Workplace remains professional.

I would say this thought is starting to take root, but most people won't express it publicly like this Dyson manager did. It is a form of word association. Just as the word terrorist was once associated to the Irish, and now is related to Muslims for the most part, the same can be said of grooming. Since the Rochdale scandal, the word grooming has been pounced on by Sikhs even when there is no correlation in reality.

It is a clever game, but you would be foolish to think this stuff doesn't filter down. Just look at how love jihad which was another concept dreamed up by some frustrated Sikh in the UK, has now found it's way to India proper.
 
People say they hate Jews and some hate white people or they might hate americans. everyone hates someone but only get offended when they are the target of hate.

Why would you care if she hates men?.

Because hate is a strong word. Tomorrow if this lady is in a position of power, her hate could sabotage a man’s career.
 
Captain, have you put a complaint through, asking the Conservatives to review Chan's role?
 
Captain, have you put a complaint through, asking the Conservatives to review Chan's role?

The tribunal upheld the case against Chana and he was disciplined. What purpose would be served by complaining to the Conservatives further?
 
The tribunal upheld the case against Chana and he was disciplined. What purpose would be served by complaining to the Conservatives further?

He's still an elected councillor of a borough which has a 10%+ Muslim population. Should be sacked as a councillor.
 
He's still an elected councillor of a borough which has a 10%+ Muslim population. Should be sacked as a councillor.

Fair point. Perhaps the Muslim ( or Sikh) population of that borough should be raising complaints to get this fellow relieved of his council duties, it is not a good look for someone who is a representative of local authority.
 
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