London, Nov.19: There is no stopping Indian American Suresh Deman from cashing in on Britain s rights culture.

Having already lodged 40 cases of racial discrimination with employment tribunals in the country, and collected nearly 200,000 pounds in payouts and cost the taxpayer an estimated one million pounds, Deman is back in the courts again, beating a 2006 ban by the Attorney General to bring further claims.

According to the Daily Mail, Deman, 53, is pursuing a claim dating back 11 years against the Association of University Teachers and Officers (AUT).

The case is being heard, at public expense, at a fair employment tribunal in Belfast, Ireland. It has already lasted nine days and is far from finished.

With Deman representing himself, proceedings have been delayed by a succession of objections, legal applications and complaints from the claimant.

In his latest case, the serial litigant is claiming to have been a victim of race, religious, sexual and political discrimination. His case goes back to 1994-95 when Deman was a temporary member of the Queen s University teaching staff.

The academic claims he was the victim of discrimination when the AUT failed to offer him the same legal advice it gave to another member of staff, Beverley Carroll.

Carroll, a clerical research assistant, made a claim against Deman for harassment in February 1995 and four months later the university informed him he would not be appointed full-time.

Deman, from London, is said to have been abusive to Carroll after blaming her for not notifying him of a staff meeting. In the four years before his ban, Deman clocked up 210 days of tribunals and was regularly accused of time-wasting tactics.

So far in this latest Belfast case he has tried in vain to have a journalist from the Daily Mail removed from the public hearing, requested a switch to another building and accused the panel chairman of being biased against him.

Deman, who is married and from a Hindu background, is a U.S. citizen and describes himself as Indian-American.

He was a teaching fellow at Pittsburgh University and got his first taste of litigation when he won 23,000 pounds in damages for his dismissal there.

His first job in the UK was at the Queen’s University teaching staff and he received 30,000 pounds in an out of court settlement 10 years after leaving.
He is believed to have applied for at least 1,000 academic posts, even though he was often unqualified.

If he was not short listed or interviewed, a racial discrimination claim might follow. He often put in alternative applications under a non-Asian name such as Phil White to compare the results.

Five universities or colleges made payouts to settle actions to avoid the expense of fighting cases and four paid damages.

Last year, in banning him from pursuing future tribunals, the judge, Mr Justice Underhill, said Deman has an obsession that he is a victim of racial discrimination which exists without reference to the evidence in any particular case . (ANI)