Obama cousin sues Met over ‘breaking wind’
A BRITISH cousin of Barack Obama is suing Scotland Yard over claims that colleagues made her life a misery by breaking wind near her desk.
Marie Auma, who is related to the US President through her aunt, Kezia Obama, of Bracknell, Berkshire, his step-mother, is demanding £400,000 from the Metropolitan Police over claims that she was belittled and humiliated during a two-year campaign.
Miss Auma, 57, whose civilian police job involved liaising with the victims of crime, alleged she was subjected to a “culture of bullying” which eventually resulted in her suffering a mental breakdown and being forced to retire. Miss Auma, who attended Mr Obama’s inauguration in 2009, claimed two colleagues would deliberately break wind near her desk at Southwark Police sta- tion in order to humiliate her and destroy her self-esteem.
Launching a compensation battle at the Central London County Court, lawyers for Miss Auma said problems had begun in 2007 when she was refused time off to travel to Kenya to visit the graves of her two brothers, who had been killed in a car accident. When she complained, she claimed, she was branded a troublemaker and ostracised.
Her barrister, Lorraine Mensah, told Judge Simon Freeland QC that while few individual incidents could be said to be harassment, together they formed a “culture of bullying”.
Miss Auma described a “pack mentality” which resulted in one officer and another civilian employee deliberately breaking wind at her desk.
Despite her moving to another police station, the bullying continued, it was claimed, and after suffering a mental breakdown she was retired on health grounds.
The hearing continues.