Lecturer claims win

A SENIOR lecturer in economics has won Pounds 16,000 from London Guildhall University in an out-of-court settlement on the eve of an industrial tribunal in which she was to allege racial discrimination and unfair dismissal.

Last year Justine Henderson was selected for redundancy in a process that Dr Henderson claimed was "intrinsically unfair" and racially motivated in the way it was applied to her.

Dr Henderson claimed the selection process placed an undue emphasis on research.

Barry Mordsley of Salans HRK, for Dr Henderson, said: "The compensation limit for unfair dismissal is Pounds 11,300, so the settlement clearly reflects her race discrimination claim as well."

Roderick Floud, provost of London Guildhall, said: "Action in an industrial tribunal is difficult to predict. In order to avoid considerable legal costs and potential unpleasantness, we were pleased to be able to settle this case, with no admission of unfairness or racial discrimination on our part."

"We do not accept that our redundancy selection system is unfair and have no plans to change it."