In the case of Mr A Moghaddam v Chancellor and Scholars of the University of Oxford senior scientist Amin Moghaddam said the professor running the lab he worked in was committing ‘author misconduct’ in a ‘calculated approach to steal my ideas and work’, a tribunal heard.
When he complained to the head of the pathology department, he said he was told that he was fortunate because, in Sir Isaac Newton’s words, he ‘stood on the shoulder of giants’. Dr Moghaddam claimed he had not been given the ‘credit he was due’ and his path to secure a better position within the lab had not been ‘properly supported’.
He said that he had been ‘unfairly’ treated over a number of years, and that the lab he worked in ‘favoured’ white students as authors of reports.
His employment ended in March 2019 after failing to secure more funding – after his relationship with boss Professor Quentin Sattentau sour following his claims of plagiarism, the tribunal heard.
Dr Moghaddam then took the University of Oxford to an employment tribunal claiming unfair dismissal, race and disability discrimination and whistleblowing.
However, Dr Moghaddam has now lost his legal battle and seen all of his claims dismissed – with the tribunal concluding his contract had not been extended because there was no funding to do so and he had not been unfairly treated.
The tribunal did not accept Dr Moghaddam’s assertion that his career progression had been blocked by his senior figures within the school.
They also concluded that the breakdown in the relationship had led Dr Moghaddam to ‘re-interpret’ events so that he thought Prof Sattentau’s motive to have been of a ‘malign’ nature where ‘none existed’.
His claim of dismissal on the grounds of race were dismissed as he was subject to ‘no less favourable treatment’. All other claim, including unfair dismissal and whistleblowing detriment, were also dismissed.
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