Home Office sued for £1m by US citizen over unfair dismissal

A
US
man is suing the Home Office for £1m for unfair dismissal after it was found
that he was employed in breach of the Home Office’s own immigration rules.

Darwin
Shreve, who was seconded from the Royal Borough of Kensington to work for the
National Asylum Support Service, claims that internal failings at the Home
Office resulted in him being unfairly dismissed from his job.

Shreve
worked for the service for three years before it was discovered that a
certificate allowing him to work in the Home Office as an ‘alien’ had not been
completed, the Times reports.

He
was dismissed on the grounds that having no certificate made
his employment illegal, even though the Home Office admitted that it was not
his fault, according to a High Court writ seen by the newspaper.

As
a US
citizen, Shreve should have had a certificate signed by David Blunkett, the home secretary, or Beverley Hughes, the
former immigration minister, to allow him to work in the department.

During
his interview for the £35,000-a-year job, Shreve says he raised the issue, and
was told that the certificate would be obtained.

By Daniel Thomas