EHRC | UK equality watchdog won't let staff say 'institutional racism', tribunal hears

A former employee at the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is alleging racial discrimination and unfair dismissal, after the watchdog body criticised its staff for speaking up about race.

In this unusual case, Preeti Kathrecha, a former senior associate, is suing the public body, saying she was “punished and silenced” for speaking up about racism and for using the term “institutional racism”.

In the tribunal’s statement, Kathrecha explained: “The commission, which was supposed to be independent and impartial on race and other forms of discrimination, was politicised on some areas, such as race (and, more recently, the trans debate).

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“By politicised I mean that the board increasingly acted as an agent of the Conservative government and against parties or organisations which the government were opposed to, or were in conflict with, rather than impartially and independently, and in accordance with its statutory duties … It is being used as a political weapon in a cultural race war.”