NRI TO SUE DUTCH BANK FOR RACIST REMARKS

London: An NRI senior executive is suing the Dutch bank ING for more than 100,000 pounds alleging that she has been a victim of racist remarks in the bank and that her career hit a 'glass ceiling' because of her race. Forty two-year-old Meena Sagoo alleged that not long after joining the bank her boss told her how the rest of the staff had likened her to a character in the popular BBC TV comedy, The Kumars At No 42 .

Sagoo who earns 80,000 pounds a year will claim at an employment tribunal that another Asian, Brij Bharati, was nicknamed Bindi Bhaji - an Indian dish of okra and spices - by boss Richard Mutter. According to a report in The Daily Mail on Friday, she further claimed that her white colleague Chris Taylor caused offence by repeatedly discussing the British Raj with her. And she said other Asian and black members of staff were subjected to racist remarks following the September 11 attacks in America. She is bringing an employment tribunal claim for race discrimination and victimization against ING Services Limited.

The bank and Mutter, a managing director, strongly deny all her allegations. The case is due to be heard in February. British born and of Indian descent, Miss Sagoo from Hounslow, West London, joined ING's London Wall offices in the city in 2002 and became a vice-president a year later. She worked in an IT department developing computer systems for the bank's human resources team.