Huawei cleared of racial discrimination

published 18 November 2011

Huawei has won an employment tribunal case in which an ex employee accused the Chinese firm of racial discrimination.

Judeson Peter claimed he lost his job because he was British and that Huawei was favouring Chinese workers. He said not one Chinese engineer had been made redundant, yet 30 non-Chinese workers had been, according to the Daily Mail.

The tribunal found Peter had not been unfairly dismissed, however, saying Huawei followed a fair and legal process.

"Huawei as a reputable employer would not tolerate any form of discrimination in the workplace and this has been validated by the tribunal's review of the case," a Huawei spokesperson said.

"Huawei is a responsible and fair employer and we are committed to the equal treatment of all our employees, providing the same career opportunities to all our employees globally. We are committed to expanding our business both in the UK and across Europe."

The company said 75 per cent of its 650 UK workforce is recruited locally. "We will continue with growth plan to attract new talent to the company," the spokesperson added.

Huawei completely denied Peter's allegations, saying the company did have to downsize in 2009 but more Chinese workers were actually made redundant than British.

"The fact that a higher percentage of Chinese workers than British were made redundant shows that Huawei in no way prioritised Chinese employees," the vendor said earlier this week.

Tom Brewster is currently an associate editor at Forbes and an award-winning journalist who covers cyber security, surveillance, and privacy. Starting his career at ITPro as a staff writer and working up to a senior staff writer role, Tom has been covering the tech industry for more than ten years and is considered one of the leading journalists in his specialism.

He is a proud alum of the University of Sheffield where he secured an undergraduate degree in English Literature before undertaking a certification from General Assembly in web development.

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