Computacenter fails to suppress race tribunal
Hulme accused of turning a blind eye to racism after sacked employee loses share option.
Computacenter founder Philip Hulme was accused of allowing racism at loses share option. the reseller to go unchecked after a senior Polish executive lost his share options when he was sacked.
At the Bedford employment tribunal last week, Mark Sawicki, 53, former maintenance director at Computacenter told how he lost 75,000 share options - now worth 300,000 shares or #1.37 million - when Hulme sacked him. Sawicki claimed he was sacked in March 1995 for no reason and told by Hulme: 'I would rather not see you in the office.' Sawicki was earning #110,000 including perks.
As the company prepared to float in April 1998, Sawicki was told other former Computacenter staff had been allowed to keep their shares and he believed that he was treated differently because he was Polish. At the tribunal's two-day preliminary hearing on 18 and 19 October, Sawicki won the right for his case to have a full hearing.
During his time at Computacenter, Sawicki recalled being called a 'bloody Pole' by a salesman then told to forget it by Hulme, because the salesman made lots of money for the company.
'I have always ignored it for the best of the company. I thought my loyal work would find its reward in the future,' said Sawicki.
Computacenter wanted the case thrown out last week because Sawicki received #52,000 from the reseller to sign a contract keeping him from making race discrimination complaints.
Alan Pottinger, company secretary at Computacenter , denied discrimination and told the tribunal a clause banning Sawicki from making racial discrimination complaints was specially included in his pay-off because of his 'Polishness'.
Computacenter company lawyer Russell Brimelow, of Boodle Hatfield, said: 'I suggest this is nothing more than a spurious gold-digging expedition.'
Witness Caroline Olds, former Computacenter account manager, told the tribunal how Sawicki was seen as 'dirty' by senior management. Olds, who is awaiting a decision on her case of sexual discrimination, said: 'Philip Hulme loathed and detested Mark Sawicki and this was common knowledge among senior people in the company.
'Sawicki was also perceived to be almost dirty in that he used to run the engineers and they were almost all minorities and he was identified in that role. He was not part of the establishment.'
Sawicki's case was the second high-profile case for Computacenter this year and one of 10 complaints made to the employment tribunal about the company in the past two years, as exclusively revealed in PC Dealer (26 August).
The full hearing will be held early next year. Pottinger told PC Dealer he was 'disappointed' that the case was going ahead and insisted that the reseller would continue to fight.
RESELLER UNDER FOUR-YEAR SCRUTINY BY RACE COMMISSION
Company secretary Alan Pottinger has admitted to four-year investigation into racism being carried out at Computacenter by the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE).
A representative for CRE confirmed to PC Dealer: 'We are conducting a formal investigation. It is something we do when we think there may be acts of discrimination taking place.'
Pottinger said the investigation was sparked off in 1994 after two engineers complained of discrimination. He admitted to the investigation when questioned by employment tribunal chairman John Wheeldon, inquiring into a separate claim of racial discrimination by former Computacenter maintenance director Mark Sawicki.
Wheeldon was also told by another witness, Caroline Olds, that the maintenance division housed most of Computacenter's minority groups.
Pottinger told the tribunal the investigation had broadened into management and was nearing an end. He later told PC Dealer: 'We have reached an agreement with the two individuals and I can't say more because it's confidential.'
It was revealed in the tribunal that Computacenter chairman Philip Hulme negotiated a secret #52,000 deal with Sawicki to leave and not make a race discrimination claim. Information obtained by PC Dealer shows former account manager Caroline Olds was offered #68,000 to leave.
Pottinger said: 'Sometimes the circumstances are such that it is a good idea to use compromise agreements.' He said the number of instances they had been used was in 'double figures'.
A company source told PC Dealer one of the engineers who sparked the investigation was among the 10 former Computacenter staff involved in employment tribunal action against the company, revealed exclusively in PC Dealer on August 26.
The CRE said formal investigations were rare and the Computacenter case was one of four that were current and among the 100 held since the CRE was set up about 20 years ago.