Black woman who claimed Heathrow strip-search was racial discrimination has

A black woman who worked at Heathrow Airport has had her case thrown out after claiming she was “strip-searched because of her race”.

Veleta Brown said she had been “violated” when security officer Sorien Monfries asked her to step to the side to carry out a “private search” after she had set off a security scanner.

The project manager claimed she had been “marched” out of the room by two security guards and was “treated as a criminal”, an employment tribunal heard.

Following the incident, she lodged a grievance against the London airport and claimed the search amounted to racial discrimination and harassment.

Table of Contents

Dismissed her claims

However, after suing Heathrow for more than £1 million, an employment judge has now dismissed her claims, ruling that the search was “not related” to her race.

The tribunal, held in Reading, was told Ms Brown – who describes herself as Black Caribbean – started working as a Delivery Project Manager at Heathrow Airport in June 2022.

It was heard that in October 2022, Ms Brown was due to meet a contractor in the secure airside area of the airport, which required her to pass through security.

After passing through an archway scanner – which acts as a metal detector and body scanner – Ms Brown was asked to step aside for a body scan by Ms Monfries as she had activated the alarm.

‘Zone of concern’

If the body scanner identifies a “zone of concern” then the person is asked to step to one side and consent to a search which involves being patted down over their clothing and scanned with a hand-held metal detector.

After this, if the security officer is unable to satisfy themselves that there is no security concern, then a private search is the ”next step”.

Ms Brown accepted that these checks were “important” and that the archway “cannot select on the grounds of race”, it was heard.

However, she claimed that private searches were not usually carried out, which was disputed by the airport who said it is “required when a security officer cannot satisfy themselves” that the “area of concern has been resolved”.

The project manager claimed she was “patted down” three times over clothing by Ms Monfries, which she found to be “excessive”.

Ms Brown alleged that the officer “repeatedly patted around the bra area” before turning to a colleague and stating she wanted to do a private search.

‘Degraded and violated’

After being moved into a side room, Ms Brown alleged a security guard stood in front of the door to prevent her leaving – however, the airport said this was done to prevent someone entering the room.

She was later granted permission to proceed to the airside, but Ms Brown claimed the search had left her feeling “embarrassed, humiliated, degraded and violated”.

The project manager later complained to her line manager about the search before lodging an official grievance, referring to how she did not know any other employees who had been “strip searched”.

Her grievance was partially upheld due to a flaw in how it was investigated, but Ms Brown was told that there was “no evidence to suggest that the incident raised in October 2022 was an act of direct discrimination”.

‘Not related to her race’

She later appealed the decision, claiming her grievance was not with the process itself but how it was executed. However, she was not satisfied with the appeal outcome and resigned in June last year.

Ms Brown initially tried to claim £1,011,150 in compensation over claims of racial discrimination and harassment, but these were rejected by an employment tribunal.

Employment Judge Anna Poynton concluded that Ms Brown had been asked to step aside for the search because the archway scanner had activated, and was “not related to her race”.

The panel ruled that there had been “considerable shortcomings” in the airport’s handling of Ms Brown’s complaint, but said none of these related to her race.

All claims made by Ms Brown were dismissed.

EMEA Tribune is not involved in this news article, it is taken from our partners and or from the News Agencies. Copyright and Credit go to the News Agencies, email news@emeatribune.com Follow our WhatsApp verified Channel