A tribunal has heard that a police officer was requested by a colleague to participate in a game of “snog, marry, avoid” utilising photos of sex workers and criminal suspects.
Shafarat Mohammed sought to litigate the Derbyshire police for racial discrimination and harassment following a request from a colleague to participate in the game.
The exam requires listing three individuals and thereafter asking a participant to select whom they would want to kiss, whom they would choose to marry, and whom they would opt to avoid.
Employment Judge Stephen Shore stated that engaging in the game within the workplace could constitute sexual harassment and potentially violate the Equality Act, noting that the officers may have referred to the game—known by several names—using a more vulgar term.
Shafarat Mohammed, who has left the police, lost the case as he did not make a claim of sexual harassment and his other complaints were dismissed. Shore said: “The ‘game’ was crass and inappropriate. It casts no one who participated in it in a good light. It is possible that the conduct that is agreed could constitute harassment of a sexual nature … no such claim was made by [Mohammed].”
Shafarat Mohammed’s colleague Kate Northridge admitted to the tribunal she had “jokingly” played the game with co-workers and included Shafarat Mohammed in their discussion.
Shafarat Mohammed claimed that during the discussion in May or June 2022 he was only shown images of black women and was asked what he liked about one of them. He said he was embarrassed and offended by the questioning and felt it was inappropriate.
Kate Northridge, who was his colleague at Pear Tree station in Derby, admitted to the hearing in Nottingham that a group of officers played the game using photos of suspects. She said she had been the one to include Shafarat Mohammed in the game but she had not asked him specific questions about any of the images.
The tribunal heard that Shafarat Mohammed joined the force in November 2021 and completed his training in March the following year. He resigned less than a year later – in September 2022 – and then made an employment tribunal claim for racial discrimination and harassment.
The tribunal found there was no racial or religious element to it as the sex workers were of varying ethnicities.
Shafarat Mohammed, a Muslim of Pakistani heritage, lost his case for racial and religious discrimination and harassment.
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