A charity ordered to pay £75,000 in damages to a former employee has been accused of moving money from its bank account to avoid making the payment.
The Glasgow-based anti-abuse charity Roshni was ordered to pay the money to Anela Anwar after an employment tribunal in August 2016.
The tribunal ruled that Anwar had been subjected to unlawful workplace and work-related harassment on the grounds of her sex and her religion or beliefs.
The damages awarded to the claimant, £74,647.96, included an injury to feelings award of £35,000 and a personal injury award of £20,000.
However, a submission to the Supreme Court at the end of last month says Anwar has not received the funds.
A summary of the case on the website of the UK’s highest court says: “Ms Anwar sought to enforce the judgment. Roshni’s bank statements indicated that, as at 1 August 2016, it had more than £68,000 in its account.
“However, by 7 October 2016, that sum had fallen to around £4,000. Ms Anwar believes that Roshni took steps to dispose of its funds to prevent Ms Anwar from receiving the sums due to her under the employment tribunal’s order.
“She has not yet received any of the sums due under the order, and has no reasonable expectation of ever doing so.”
Anwar has issued a petition for judicial review against the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Kwasi Kwarteng.
Her petition says that because there is no express legislation which provides employment tribunals with the power to grant an arrestment – an order to enforce payment from a bank account or an individual’s wages – the business secretary has failed to implement a number of provisions of EU law in Scotland.
These include the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin, and establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation.
Anwar argues that this is incompatible with her EU law right to an effective remedy.
The date for when the judgment will be handed down has not been set.
The charity did not respond to a request for comment from Third Sector.