Lord Rami Ranger CBE and his company, Sun Mark Ltd, have won a significant legal battle after the President of the Employment Appeal Tribunal, Dame Jennifer Eady, dismissed an appeal by a former employee.
Ramandeep Kaur had claimed £673,000 from Sun Mark Ltd and Sea, Air and Land Forwarding Ltd and took her discrimination case to the country’s most senior employment judge. After a hearing this month, Dame Eady ruled in favour of the two companies and its founder Lord Ranger and Chief Executive Hamreet Singh Ahuja, upholding a previous tribunal ruling that Kaur’s conduct was “scandalous, unreasonable and vexatious”.
Lord Ranger said: “It has been a long six years and nearly £1mn in legal fees but I stood my ground. If I had settled, that would imply I am guilty of something. I had full faith in British justice, and I knew the truth will prevail.
“So, it has prevailed in the end because even the judge could see through the lying, manipulating and exaggerating. While she [claimant] had nothing to lose, I had everything to lose because of my standing in the community.”
The ruling ends a six-year legal battle over disputed claims of sexual discrimination and harassment. Dame Eady upheld a 2023 ruling by Judge Hyams that the claimant had deliberately frustrated the course of justice by destroying critical evidence to the case, including a phone used to record a conversation covertly with Lord Ranger in October 2018 after reportedly provoking him and a notebook in which she alleged to have kept details of some of the incidents. Dame Eady concluded it was right to strike out the appeal, ending the matter.
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The judgment stated: “Her actions (whether in destroying evidence or in lying about having done so) meant that relevant evidence could no longer be investigated, either to test whether it did support her case or to examine it to see whether it might weaken that case. The decision reached reflected the permissible findings of fact made and an entirely proper assessment as to whether there could still be a fair determination of the remaining aspects of the claim.”
The British Indian peer said he now looked forward to focussing on his work in the House of Lords to champion the cause of women’s empowerment, which he had been forced to keep on a low profile.
He shared: “I have always stood for women empowerment because I'm a single parent child. I have always supported causes related to women. I want the government to provide creches for women who have left their employment to have children so they can resume work. It should be made easier for them to be able to work and look after their family.
“However, I was keeping very low profile for fear of being attacked as a hypocrite while this claim was ongoing. It was a very big setback to my work. But now that it is finally over, I can get back to my work which also includes motivating the youth of this country to make a difference to society.”
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Meanwhile, Lord Ranger’s plan is to also focus on growing the family of businesses under Sun Mark, working in harmony with colleagues, partners and other stakeholders.
*Info: Sun Mark Ltd