University lecturer who called Sikhs ‘you lot’ and colleague’s turban ‘a bandage’ struck off

A senior paediatric nursing lecturer has been struck off after he had made comments to a Sikh colleague mocking his religion.

Maurice Slaven has been stripped of his nursing licence by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) – after a 22-year-long career – for racially harassing his co-worker from 2016 to 2018, including by referring to his turban as a hat and a bandage.

The former lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University, in Cambridge, also referred to Sikhs as “you lot”, made jokes about the religion’s founder Guru Nanak, and made comments about Sikh children using “swords”, an NMC tribunal heard.

Mr Slaven, who admitted the allegations but did not attend the hearing, claimed his comments were “banter between friends”.

Referring to his colleague’s turban, the NMC heard that Mr Slaven said: “why aren’t you wearing your bandage?”. He also asked, “where’s your hat?”, before insisting “no, it’s a hat” when his colleague corrected him.

He also told his co-worker – who the tribunal referred to as ‘Colleague 1’ – “you seem to take all the religious holidays off, and even Christmas and that’s not your holiday” and “you lot, Sikhs, have all these religious holidays”.

When discussing a charity appeal for toys for Sikh children, Mr Slaven said: “What Sikh toys? Do you mean daggers, knives and swords?”

The Kirpan is a curved sword that is one of the five articles of faith that Sikhs must wear at all times.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/sikh-religion-turban-racial-harassment-b2085702.html

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