Bamieh plans second race case against CPS

The CPS prosecutor who won a racial discrimination case against her bosses at an employment tribunal now plans to sue them again.

Maria Bamieh, who turned down a massive u110,000 settlement offer and continued her case, claims a second promotion bid has been blocked since she began her original action.

A Bedford employment tribunal last week upheld her racial discrimination claim.

The Lawyer (12 April) reported that while Bamieh pursued her complaint against the promotion board over its handling of her prosecution team leader post application, she passed the chief crown prosecutor (CCP) board.

Bamieh was deemed eligible for one of these top jobs, five grades above the team leader post she was not offered. But then she was not given a CCP post.

In an exclusive interview with The Lawyer, she claims that she was rejected due to insufficient management experience. But she says that management experience is only gained by "acting up" as a branch crown prosecutor.

"The chief executive told me that I didn't get one of these branch crown prosecutor positions because I worked part-time but there was a white woman who worked part-time who was given one of these positions."

Bamieh plans to stay on at the CPS. She says:"I am not going to give in to racism, although if no changes are made it may be my resolve will weaken."

Bamieh wants the Director of Public Prosecutions to publicly apologise for "unacceptable remarks" reported in The Lawyer that the CPS cannot afford to sack talented staff even if they are racist.

Bamieh says she may only get around u6,000 compensation. The original settlement offer demanded her resignation, the withdrawal her case and her dropping other complaints. "That was a redundancy payment, not com- pensation. It would have let those who treated me badly off the hook. I would have had to leave even though I had done nothing wrong.

"I wanted them to know how it feels having your career ruined after devoting 12 years to a job," she says.

The CPS said it was taking the decision very seriously, giving it urgent attention. They declined to comment further, until after the hearing.