Racist e-mail investigation slammed as "extreme"
A major investigation is under way after Lancashire County Council suspended 14 members of staff over an allegedly racist email.
The offending email is claimed to have contained anti-Jewish material
– and a large number of the suspended members of County Hall staff are believed to be from Preston.
But a union leader has condemned the move as "extreme" and added the County Council was "using a sledgehammer to crack a nut".
County Coun Vali Patel, part of the cabinet working group on voluntary
community faith sector, said: "My understanding is that the emails
were pro-Palestinian which may be perceived as anti-Jewish and that the
members of staff who have been suspended were the receivers of the e-mail rather than the creators.
"I believe the majority of the staff who have been suspended are from
Preston.
"The majority of them are Muslims, although they are not all
Muslims.
"I think the County Council is quite right to have suspended them while
they investigate the background of the matter."
Les Parker, Lancashire branch secretary of union UNITE, said: "I find
it a bit extreme that 14 people have been suspended.
"You need to have sufficient evidence to do this.
"I would be concerned if these 14 people have been suspended on something that may be considered to be inappropriate if it is a silly joke email that deserves a slap on the wrist rather than suspension.
"If all these employees have been guilty of is receiving the email, then suspending them is totally inappropriate and way over the top.
"If, however, they have then passed the offending email on, then that is inappropriate.
"It seems to me the County Council are using a sledgehammer to crack a
nut."
The departments involved in the scandal are believed to include Adult
Social Care and Children and Young People.
If found guilty, the workers will face disciplinary action and could
even be sacked.
>>See Tuesday's Lancashire Evening Post for the full story.
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Weather for Preston
Thursday 29 July 2010
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 15 C to 17 C
Wind Speed: 28 mph
Wind direction: West
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Light rain
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