Police discriminated against Expat PC

Police Discriminated against ExPat Officer

In an article appearing in the Royal Gazette on Friday 26^th July 2013, the Bermuda Human Rights Commission has ruled that Police chiefs unlawfully discriminated against a UK officer, Michael Harkin, when they promoted Bermudian colleagues ahead of him — even though some had scored lower marks in their Sergeant’s promotion exams.

And when the officer filed an internal complaint against that decision, the Bermuda Police Service (BPS) retaliated by kicking him off the force, according to the Human Rights Commission (HRC).

The HRC judgement stated “We have no difficulty in finding that ... Commissioner Jackson terminated the complainant’s contract to penalise the complainant for lodging his grievance alleging discrimination, and that the transfer ... to a less well-paid position was similarly motivated.”

Summarising its findings, the panel concluded that the BPS had “violated” Mr Harkin’s human rights by “unlawfully discriminating against him on the basis of his place of origin” by failing to promote him.

It added that the BPS had “unlawfully retaliated” against Mr Harkin by not renewing his contract and effectively demoting him from the Armoured Response Unit to court officer.

CLICK HERE for the full article in the Royal Gazette