A gay police officer has won his case of racial and sexual orientation discrimination against London's Scotland Yard, it has been announced.
Kevin Maxwell, who worked in counter-terrorism, was subjected to offensive comments from
other officers and seniors while working at Heathrow Airport in early 2009, the BBC report.
He won his case at Reading Employment
Tribunal, this morning.
The environment became so toxic that Maxwell, 33, later suffered depression as a result.
In a dramatic twist, the tribunal also found that, in July 2010, an officer in the
Met deliberately leaked a "distorted account" of the details of his
claim to the Sun newspaper.
Solicitor Simon Cuthbert, who represented Maxwell
throughout his case, told the BBC: "Such alleged practices and behaviour have no
place in a modern police service.
"This welcome judgment represents a positive step in rooting out any remaining prejudice in the force."
A Scotland Yard spokesman responded: "We are disappointed at the
tribunal's findings in favour of Detective Constable Maxwell on nine
counts.
"However, this must be viewed in the context that he made over 100 allegations to the employment tribunal. The tribunal's decision is 113 pages and this needs now to be given full and careful consideration."
