Firm faces tribunal on race claim

Leicester firm Ironsides Ray & Vials faces an industrial tribunal this week, accused of racial discrimination against former trainee Jenny Lindsay. Lindsay, now qualified as a solicitor, claims that as the only black trainee with the firm she was refused funding for her studies for the Law Society finals while the firm's five other trainees - all white - received assistance. She also claims she was dismissed by the firm when she failed the final examination, while others who failed were kept on. A spokesman for the firm says: "Ironsides Ray & Vials denies strenuously any suggestion of racial discrimination, but feels it inappropriate to deal with these allegations in advance of the hearing."