NRI scientist awarded 60,000 pounds compensation only for racial discrimination case

• Tribunal rejected Prim Singh's claims that he had been victimised by Ian Wilmut, it found that he had been unfairly dismissed from the Roslin Institute, near Edinburgh in Scotland.
  The tribunal has now ordered the Council to pay 60,000 pounds in compensation to Singh.
• Dr Prim Singh told the tribunal that Professor Wilmut did not accept that Asian men could have original ideas.
• Dr. Singh, who now works at the Borstel Institute in Liebniz, Germany, told the 'Scotsman' daily: "I'm just relieved it's finally all over. You can imagine the effect this ordeal has had on my family. I don't want to say any more right now. I just want to take some time to digest the findings."
• He had also claimed that when he lodged a complaint of racial discrimination against Wilmut, the head of Roslin's department of gene expression and development, he was forced out of his 40,000 pounds a year job.
• Dr. Singh, who was the head of nuclear reprogramming at the Roslin Institute in Midlothian, claimed that he was passed over for promotion and given second-rate laboratory equipment.
  

NRI scientist is seeking £1 million in damages from  
the Babraham Institute for denying post

UK, October 22, 2005
NRI press

NRI (non-resident Indian) Dr Prim Singh, a molecular biologist, a leading scientist claims he was "never given a chance" in his application for the directorship of the Babraham Institute in Cambridge. Dr. Singh had sought one million pounds in damages from the institute.

Dr Prim Singh, 45, from Edinburgh, told the tribunal he was a world-leader in his field. He said: "My pioneering research has led to a lot of popular science, such as that televised by Lord Robert Winston, who examined the manner in which humans are attracted to one another through their genetic scent in sweat."

Dr Singh said he was surprised not to be short-listed for the post. He said: "As a world-leader in the field of epigenetics, it was a complete shock not to be short-listed on the grounds that I was said not to have the 'international academic reputation of the other stronger candidates'. This simply is not true."

Dr Singh was also claiming against the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), which provides funding for both Babraham and Roslin.

Tribunal chairman Colin Sara said the panel had concluded the final decision was not influenced by the fact Dr Singh was pursuing another claim. The panel ruled that Dr Singh did not meet any of the criteria set out in the job description.

Mr Sara said: "It must be remembered that what he was applying for was a highly prestigious appointment.

"We fully accept that he is an able and experienced scientist. But not at this level."