Jan.6 (GMM) Having already been labelled homophobic, McLaren boss Ron Dennis has now been accused of racism by a sacked employee.
It emerged last year that the employee, Peter Boland, was bringing legal action against Dennis and his companies because he said rumours he was gay led to him being unfairly dismissed.The case has now returned to a Southampton (UK) employment tribunal, where 27-year-old Boland, who worked as Dennis' private jet steward, claims the Briton had been "insensitive" to Arab business colleagues.Hong Kong-born Boland said Dennis had offered the Arabs alcoholic drinks when he knew they would not accept them because of their religious beliefs.And after another trip to the Middle East, Dennis "came onboard and was offered a drink," Boland, who is representing himself, said."Ron said he did not want a drink. Ron said he wanted to go to the bathroom to wash his hands because he had been shaking hands with Arabs all day."Boland claims he was sacked by Dennis in the wake of the false rumours about his sexual orientation, but McLaren say he was rude, made mistakes and fell asleep during some flights.But as well as accusing Dennis of sexual discrimination and racism, Boland - who turned down a settlement offer of $11,000 - also said his boss once called him "fat" before he was fired in May of last year.McLaren, partly owned by the Saudi Arabia-born Mansour Ojjeh as well as the Kingdom of Bahrain, declined to comment.
