Race-claims lecturer beats legal ban to carry on suing after 40 discrimination claims
By CHRIS BROOKE
Last updated at 23:06pm on 18th November 2007
It was never going to be easy stopping Suresh Deman cashing in on Britains rights culture.
For a decade he sued universities - usually claiming racial bias over failed job applications - as he collected nearly £200,000 in payouts and cost the taxpayer an estimated £1million.
The finance lecturer brought at least 40 cases to employment tribunals before the Attorney General last year had him declared a vexatious litigant and banned him from bringing further claims.
That, then, should have been that. Mr Deman, however, had other ideas and this week sees him back before a tribunal, once again claiming discrimination.
It turns out that the ban on him bringing further cases does not apply to Northern Ireland because the province has a separate judicial body.
As a result, the 53-year-old academic is pursuing a claim dating back 11 years against the Association of University Teachers and Officers (AUT).
The case is being heard, at public expense, at a fair employment tribunal in Belfast. It has already lasted nine days and is far from finished.
With Mr Deman representing himself, proceedings have been delayed by a succession of objections, legal applications and complaints from the claimant.
In his latest case, the serial litigant is claiming to have been a victim of race, religious, sexual and political discrimination. His case goes back to 1994-95 when Mr Deman was a temporary member of the Queens University teaching staff.
The academic claims he was the victim of discrimination when the AUT failed to offer him the same legal advice it gave to another member of staff, Beverley Carroll.
Mrs Carroll, a clerical research assistant, made a claim against Mr Deman for harassment in February 1995 and four months later the university informed him he would not be appointed full-time.
Mr Deman, from London, is said to have been abusive to Mrs Carroll after blaming her for not notify him of a staff meeting. In the four years before his ban, Mr Deman clocked up 210 days of tribunals and was regularly accused of time-wasting tactics.
So far in this latest Belfast case he has tried in vain to have a journalist from the Daily Mail removed from the public hearing, requested a switch to another building and accused the panel chairman of being biased against him.
Mr Deman, who is married and from a Hindu background, is a U.S. citizen and describes himself as Indian-American. He was a teaching fellow at Pittsburgh University and got his first taste of litigation when he won £23,000 damages for his dismissal there.
His first job in the UK was at Queens and he received £30,000 in an out of court settlement 10 years after leaving. He is believed to have applied for at least 1,000 academic posts, even though he was often unqualified.
If he was not shortlisted or interviewed, a racial discrimination claim might follow. He often put in alternative applications under a non-Asian name such as Phil White to compare the results.
Five universities or colleges made payouts to settle actions to avoid the expense of fighting cases and four paid damages.
Last year, in banning him from pursuing future tribunals, the judge, Mr Justice Underhill, said Mr Deman has an obsession that he is a victim of racial discrimination which exists without reference to the evidence in any particular case.
Source here.
Evidently a persistent fellow
By CHRIS BROOKE
Last updated at 23:06pm on 18th November 2007
It was never going to be easy stopping Suresh Deman cashing in on Britains rights culture.
For a decade he sued universities - usually claiming racial bias over failed job applications - as he collected nearly £200,000 in payouts and cost the taxpayer an estimated £1million.
The finance lecturer brought at least 40 cases to employment tribunals before the Attorney General last year had him declared a vexatious litigant and banned him from bringing further claims.
That, then, should have been that. Mr Deman, however, had other ideas and this week sees him back before a tribunal, once again claiming discrimination.
It turns out that the ban on him bringing further cases does not apply to Northern Ireland because the province has a separate judicial body.
As a result, the 53-year-old academic is pursuing a claim dating back 11 years against the Association of University Teachers and Officers (AUT).
The case is being heard, at public expense, at a fair employment tribunal in Belfast. It has already lasted nine days and is far from finished.
With Mr Deman representing himself, proceedings have been delayed by a succession of objections, legal applications and complaints from the claimant.
In his latest case, the serial litigant is claiming to have been a victim of race, religious, sexual and political discrimination. His case goes back to 1994-95 when Mr Deman was a temporary member of the Queens University teaching staff.
The academic claims he was the victim of discrimination when the AUT failed to offer him the same legal advice it gave to another member of staff, Beverley Carroll.
Mrs Carroll, a clerical research assistant, made a claim against Mr Deman for harassment in February 1995 and four months later the university informed him he would not be appointed full-time.
Mr Deman, from London, is said to have been abusive to Mrs Carroll after blaming her for not notify him of a staff meeting. In the four years before his ban, Mr Deman clocked up 210 days of tribunals and was regularly accused of time-wasting tactics.
So far in this latest Belfast case he has tried in vain to have a journalist from the Daily Mail removed from the public hearing, requested a switch to another building and accused the panel chairman of being biased against him.
Mr Deman, who is married and from a Hindu background, is a U.S. citizen and describes himself as Indian-American. He was a teaching fellow at Pittsburgh University and got his first taste of litigation when he won £23,000 damages for his dismissal there.
His first job in the UK was at Queens and he received £30,000 in an out of court settlement 10 years after leaving. He is believed to have applied for at least 1,000 academic posts, even though he was often unqualified.
If he was not shortlisted or interviewed, a racial discrimination claim might follow. He often put in alternative applications under a non-Asian name such as Phil White to compare the results.
Five universities or colleges made payouts to settle actions to avoid the expense of fighting cases and four paid damages.
Last year, in banning him from pursuing future tribunals, the judge, Mr Justice Underhill, said Mr Deman has an obsession that he is a victim of racial discrimination which exists without reference to the evidence in any particular case.
Source here.
Evidently a persistent fellow
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