Jo Burgin, who went to an employment tribunal at the London Central Tribunal which ruled in favour of Al Jazeera English over claims it had discriminated against her, still has scope for appeal. However, it appears doubtful she may follow through.
Leigh J Hall, Managing Partner of DentonWildeSapte (DWS), which represented Al Jazeera, told The Peninsula yesterday: “She has 42 days to appeal from the return of the judgement. She can only appeal on technical deficiencies but there were no deficiencies. We (Al Jazeera and DWS) were as comprehensive as one can get.” Moreover, appeals in such circumstances are very rare.
Burgin was believed to be seeking £1m in compensation.
London-based DWS opened offices at the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) last year. Burgin, former Head of Planning at the channel, had taken Al Jazeera English to court for alleged religious, sex and racial discrimination after she was let go in April last year when her contract was not renewed.
Hall said the judgement showed there was absolutely no discrimination on the part of Al Jazeera English. “There are plenty of white Christian females working at the channel. No doubt there are over 100 nationalities working there, so there is no room for any discrimination.”
Burgin had worked at Al Jazeera along with her husband, Steve Clark, who was Director of News. The channel's management decided to release Burgin as staff felt the husband and wife relationship was having a detrimental effect on the workings of the channel. Burgin was offered a transfer to a different department, which she declined and her contract was then terminated.
In a statement issued by DWS, Anas Al Merstani, Head of Al Jazeera's Legal Department, said: “This is an important victory for Al Jazeera and publicly clears its name of any discrimination against an employee. As a global organisation with offices in over 100 countries, we welcome people from all walks of life and will strenuously contest claims that we do not.”
Al Merstani thanked the DWS team here, which was led by Hall and in London, led by Richard Nicolle and Ingrid Simler QC. DWS was appointed global counsel to Al Jazeera in November last year.
The Pen
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