Lawyer accuses Prescott staff of race bias
A leading Jewish lawyer was denied a job with John Prescott's office after being asked discriminatory questions during an interview, an employment tribunal heard today. Anthony Engel, 61, claims he was "shocked and unsettled" when asked while going for a senior post whether he had friends who were not Jewish .
The tribunal in Croydon was told Mr Engel, who is claiming racial discrimination, had also been questioned in July on whether he participated in other faiths' religious ceremonies, forbidden by his own religion. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister denies racially discriminating against Mr Engel.
The barrister, who also sits as a judge, applied for a high-level job in the Northern or Southern Rent Assessment Panels. Roger Henderson QC, for Mr Engel, said during a tape-recorded interview with a panel, the issue of race came up.
"He was asked, 'Leaving aside professional contacts, do you have friends or associates or acquaintances among other cultures?'" Mr Engel said he had a very old friend who was a psychologist.
But the interviewer, Mary Burton, insisted she wanted him to talk about "other contacts in terms of other cultures".
Mr Henderson told the tribunal there was a 35- to 40-second pause before Ms Burton asked about the ethnic make-up of Mr Engel's home town, Warwick. He said there was a large Asian community and his children had gone to a majority Asian school.
The interviewer asked whether he had taken part in any of their religious festivals. Mr Henderson told the tribunal: "That is a question that bristles like a porcupine. A Jew or a Jewess should not participate in the religious ceremonies of others. It forced Mr Engel to say, 'I'm Jewish'."
Mr Henderson said the questioning "flew in the face" of guidelines and two other candidates - who were appointed - had not been interviewed in this way.
The tribunal heard that Ms Burton, who has since retired, had interviewed Mr Engel three times before and his background had been "implicitly or explicitly" obvious each time. Mr Henderson said: "It's her case that she had no recall of him and did not know he was a Jew."
The hearing continues.
