“After reviewing the Employment Tribunal judgement, the Conservative Group on Harrow Council has voted to suspend Cllr Chana for the maximum period allowed under our rules, which is six months. This will allow the Conservative Party nationally to investigate further and if appropriate to take further action” says the Conservative group on the council.
Zeinab Alipourbabaie, a Muslim, has won claims for religious discrimination and constructive unfair dismissal after a manager Kamaljit Chana, also a Conservative councillor in Harrow, told her, “I do not like Muslims” the Times reported, and that the tribunal also found that in a one-to-one meeting with Alipourbabaie in February 2017, Kamaljit Chana, a Sikh, said: “Muslims are violent” and “Pakistani men are grooming our girls”.
Chana’s unprofessional and discriminatory character emerging from the Tribunal findings where he has been found guilty of religious discrimination and harassment in the workplace, tenders his public office position unattainable and could reasonably be regarded as bringing not only his office as Councillor but also the Conservatives as well as the Council into disrepute’.
The Conservative Party will investigate Cllr Chana under the Code of Conduct for Conservative Party Representatives. After a review by an Investigating Officer, a panel appointed by the Party Chairman will examine the complaint and the evidence that has been gathered. This panel must include at least one independent person.