SCOTLAND health secretary Humza Yousaf and his wife have commenced legal action against a Dundee nursery which “discriminated” against their two-year-old daughter.
Yousaf and Nadia El-Nakla went public last week claiming that Little Scholars in Broughty Ferry refused a place for Amal twice, but alleged it responded positively when enquiries were made for children with white Scottish-sounding names.
The couple’s lawyer, Aamer Anwar, said legal papers have been served on the nursery claiming that the refusal of a place for their daughter because of her ethnic and racial background was in breach of the Equality Act 2010, media reports said.
Anwar said the couple would move the Dundee Sheriff Court if the nursery fails to come forward with settlement proposals, a public apology and compensation “within two weeks”.
“It is alleged that when on three separate occasions, attempts were made to secure a nursery place for a child with an Asian/Muslim name, the applicant was told to complete a registration form, and then was told no spaces were available”, the solicitor said, according to the BBC.
"Following the above refusals, attempts were made to secure a nursery place for a child with a "white-sounding", non-Muslim name. On all three separate occasions, a nursery place was offered, and spaces were offered without the registration form being completed."
The nursery acknowledged that it received correspondence from the couple's solicitor. It, however, denied any wrongdoing, saying it has always been open to people of diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds.
"Our owners are themselves of Asian heritage, and for more than a decade, we have regularly welcomed both children and staff from a range of different religious, cultural, ethnic and racial backgrounds," its spokesman said.
Damian Talbot