A CLAIM of racial discrimination against a Blackburn solicitor has been dismissed, although she has yet to face disputes over breach of contract and pay.

Miss Bushra Anwar sacked Mrs Susan Watson from her job as a conveyancer after £1,251.25p of client's money went missing.

An industrial tribunal in Manchester heard how Miss Anwar, of Anwar Solicitors, used a clairvoyant's reading to determine who had taken the cash last August.

Miss Anwar heard from the clairvoyant in Pakistan almost two months later that the name of the person who took the money was Susan.

But Mrs Susan Watson, who had worked at the Strawberry Bank offices for 18 months, denied taking the cash and claimed that Miss Anwar had dismissed her because she was white. However, tribunal chairman Mr Edward Connolly, who was sitting with two colleagues, said that the complaint had not been well-founded and had to be dismissed.

The tribunal heard that when the money first went missing, Miss Anwar had dismissed a young man on work experience because he had had a key to the drawer where the cash was kept. He has since been re-instated.

A young girl, also on work experience, failed to turn up for work after the theft and had not been seen since.

But the tribunal heard that a police investigation failed to come up with evidence strong enough for any criminal conviction.

Mrs Watson said that Miss Anwar had treated her and other white members of staff differently to the way she treated Asian employees.

She said the white employees were always being pushed to get more and more work done while other staff were dealt with more leniently.

A second hearing will examine Mrs Watson's claims against Anwar Solicitors for breach of contract and a dispute over pay.

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