A FINANCIAL settlement has been reached after a tribunal ruled that an accountant was racially discriminated against and unfairly dismissed by an Oxford college.
Oxford University's Keble College has dropped an appeal against an employment tribunal ruling after reaching an "appropriate resolution" with former employee Diamond Versi.
The Reading-based tribunal panel ruled in April that Keble College's bursar Roger Boden pushed the accountant out of his £47,000-a-year job because he was Asian.
Mr Versi told the tribunal that the bursar carried out a "personal vendetta" against him, screaming and shouting at him, and carrying out an unfounded fraud investigation against him "on a whim".
Mr Versi started working for the college in 1989 and was made redundant in April 2004 as part of a restructuring of the small accounts department. His job was eliminated and his deputy given the new post of financial controller.
Both the college and Mr Boden insisted Mr Versi was treated fairly and lawfully, and launched an appeal after the tribunal's ruling. A preliminary hearing of the Employment Appeal Tribunal was held on Tuesday and the panel decided that the appeal case should proceed to a full hearing.
A remedies hearing, for the original tribunal panel to decide what to award Mr Versi, was due to take place on Thursday last week, but was cancelled because the two parties had reached an agreement.
Mr Versi was claiming £250,000 compensation, but the college refused to reveal details of the financial terms of the settlement saying it was a "private matter".
In a statement, the college said: "Bearing in mind the advantages to both Mr Versi and the college in avoiding further costly and potentially protracted litigation, the appeal will no longer proceed, and both the college and Mr Versi can now look forward and draw a line under what has been a difficult experience for all concerned."
The college said it had also taken important steps to improve its equal opportunities policies after concerns were raised by the tribunal panel. These included recruiting a human resources manager to ensure best practice and compliance throughout the college, an awareness day for senior managers, and strengthening of an equality committee, which includes students, staff and academics.
Mr Versi was unavailable for comment.