Economist with a disability claims £10m from IMF

AN OXFORD UNIVERSITY economist who was denied a prestigious job at the International Monetary Fund because he has cystic fibrosis is attempting to win a record £10m in compensation.

AN OXFORD UNIVERSITY economist who was denied a prestigious job at the International Monetary Fund because he has cystic fibrosis is attempting to win a record £10m in compensation.

Lawyers advising Dr Gavin Cameron, 30, a research fellow at Nuffield College, say his disability discrimination claim could be the highest made by a British worker.

Dr Cameron, winner of the 1997 Cystic Fibrosis academic achiever of the year award, left his Oxford job and sold his house when he was offered a job with the organisation in June. But after a medical examination the offer was withdrawn when an IMF doctor said that Dr Cameron's disability would be a "risk".

The IMF's managing director, Michel Camdessus, then wrote to Dr Cameron in August confirming the decision. Mr Camdessus said the "medical evaluation" had taken into account the IMF's "demanding work environment involving intense travel to countries imposing health risks".

Yesterday Dr Cameron said that this treatment amounted to "blatant discrimination" for which he was entitled to claim compensation. His lawyers are attempting to bring the action against the Washington-based fund in the United States, as it has no offices in this country.

Dr Cameron has been advised by a leading New York law firm, White & Case that, provided the fund does not claim immunity from legal action, which it can under its articles of association, Dr Cameron could receive compensation of about £10m. This was the amount awarded to a woman administrator by an American jury when she claimed sexual harassment at the world's second biggest law firm, Baker & McKenzie.

Lawrence Davies, Dr Cameron's legal adviser in the UK, said that Baker & McKenzie was an employer that was deemed to know better. "Certainly the IMF is in a similar position and definitely should have known better," he said. "It is disappointing that an organisation with the resources of the IMF still practises this type of discrimination and does not prohibit it in their staff regulations. We expect better standards of treatment of disabled persons at the IMF."

The highest UK claim was one brought by a City financier earlier this year who claimed £1m from the Tokyo Mitsubishi International bank for racial discrimination. The case has still to be resolved.

Mr Davies said his client had been treated "appallingly" by the IMF. When Dr Cameron was offered the position he was told he was one of the best candidates successfully to complete the IMF's rigorous assessment programme.

Dr Cameron has written to the Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, to ask him to put pressure on the IMF to reinstate him. Oxford University has agreed to allow Dr Cameron to keep his old job. Mr Davies, a senior lawyer at North Lambeth Law Centre, said: "We are also asking the IMF to change its employment regulations so they specifically prohibit disability discrimination in the future."

Dr Cameron, who has also worked for the Department of Trade and Industry, said yesterday: "I accept that cystic fFibrosis is a disability but do not accept that it poses too great a risk for an organisation such as the IMF."

He added: "It seems to me that if I am capable of doing the job then I should be employed and the IMF has a duty to make reasonable adjustments to my employment conditions to allow for my disability."