Police hopeful rejected for being ‘white man’ joins force

A GRADUATE will finally get to “follow in his father’s footsteps” as he joins the same police force that rejected him for being a white heterosexual man.

Matthew Furlong, 25, is expected to take up his position with Cheshire Police almost two years after he first applied to join – and was rejected as the force was running a diversity drive.

He said his rejection had “completely shattered” his confidence in the police force recruitment system and added that had he lied and said he was bisexual he would have got the job.

Mr Furlong claimed he had been told after the interview stage in 2017 that “it was refreshing to meet someone as well prepared as yourself ” and that he “could not have done any more”.

The graduate in particle physics and cosmology was later told that he had lost out to other candidates, prompting his father to lodge a formal complaint.

‘I had always wanted to follow in his footsteps, ever since school – not anywhere, but in the place I grew up’

Cheshire Constabulary, in which Mr Furlong’s father is a serving detective inspector, was found guilty of discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, race and sex following an employment tribunal earlier this year.

The matter was finally settled ahead of a remedy hearing and Mr Furlong will join as a student officer in September. At the time of his tribunal victory, Mr Furlong said: “My dad has served more than 20 years with Cheshire Police and I had always wanted to follow in his footsteps, ever since school – not anywhere, but in the place I grew up.”

Mr Furlong’s lawyers said that this was the first reported case of its kind in the UK, after the employment tribunal ruled that the constabulary had used “positive action” – where employers take steps to recruit certain groups of people with different characteristics – but in a discriminatory way.

Jennifer Ainscough, an employment lawyer at Slater and Gordon, said: “Positive action is an incredibly important tool to aid diversity in the workforce but this case is a reminder that it must be applied correctly to ensure that employers still recruit candidates based on merit above all else.”

Deputy Chief Constable Julie Cooke, from Cheshire Constabulary, said that the processes had been put in place “with the best of intentions”. She added: “We accept the findings of the tribunal and have looked very carefully at our entire recruitment practice.”