GCHQ racial harassment claim settled

Published on 12/09/2012 02:05

AN ASIAN civil servant who was suing the government’s secretive spy base GCHQ for racial harassment has settled his claim at the eleventh hour.

Alfred Bacchus was due at a London employment tribunal yesterday, but the case was cancelled, after it was settled at 11pm on Monday night, officials said.

Mr Bacchus’s lawyer’s office also confirmed the parties had settled.

Mr Bacchus, 42, was reportedly seeking £150,000 amid claims he was bullied by bosses while a senior press officer at the Government Communications Headquarters, whose work involves monitoring telephone calls and electronic communications of terrorism suspects.

Mr Bacchus, of Maida Vale, west London, resigned from his post in August 2011 and began his claim for race discrimination and constructive dismissal.

In papers lodged with the tribunal, the claimant complained of harassment by his white bosses and claimed he was singled out in July 2010 when he was asked how he felt about a leaked report on racism at GCHQ.

He was treated for anxiety soon afterwards, and then had to return to work for the same managers, his lawyer said

No details of the settlement were immediately available.