Supervisor acquitted of discrimination charges

abu dhabi — The Abu Dhabi Court of First Instance cleared an American supervisor of making racial remarks due to the delay in filing complaint against him.

The 45-year-old supervisor was charged with issuing racial remarks at a compatriot after telling him that he held his job due to colour and not capabilities. He was also charged with drinking alcohol without a licence. The incident took place in April 2018 and a case was filed in August last year.

The complainant — a 42-year-old fighter jet engineer — told the police officer that the supervisor insulted him in a WhatsApp message on April 21 while he was at his residence on Al Reem Island.

“He told me to pack up as I will be sent home soon,” said the complainant.

During the police and court interrogation, the accused admitted to sending the message. “I would like to apologise for my doing. I was drunk at the time and don’t recall the details of what happened,” said the supervisor.

He added that he had no personal issues with the complainant but there were work-related problems between both their companies.

However, Hassan Elhais from Al Rowaad Advocates, legal consultant of the supervisor, told the court that according to Article 10 in the UAE Criminal Procedure Law, the case had to be dismissed as the complainant had waited over three months to report the issue.

“Therefore, there is no legal ground for it as a case,” said the lawyer. “As for the alcohol consumption charges, it is out of jurisdiction as it happened at a Dubai hotel,” he added.

The court dismissed the case and cleared the supervisor of all charges.