The world-renowned Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies has been accused of forcing out a bisexual employee whose lifestyle did not comply with the views of its major funders including Saudi Arabia.
Dr Kevin Fogg, who is in a same-sex partnership, will give evidence to an employment tribunal on Monday that his career has been wrecked by “continuous and ongoing indirect sexual orientation discrimination” at the institution.
The centre said it completely rejects Fogg’s “wild allegations”. Fogg’s claims, it said in a statement, “have no basis in fact.” It added: “Contrary to his current complaints, Dr Fogg has been treated very well by the centre.”
In his witness statement, which the Guardian has seen, Fogg will claim that the centre’s director, Dr Farhan Ahmad Nizami, harboured the “long intention”of dismissing him and that he had been discriminated against on the grounds of age and sexual orientation.
Fogg will tell the Tribunal on Monday: “The centre has a culture of antagonism and intolerance towards non-heterosexual lifestyles, as I came to understand through interactions over my six years of employment.”
Fogg will say that the centre, which largely relies on funding from donors, imposes the conservative values of its trustees and donors on its staff.
“The key donors ... include many states in which homosexuality is punishable under law, in some cases including by capital punishment under law,” Fogg will state. “Many of these states are also represented on the centre’s board of trustees, the supreme decision-making body of the centre’s governance, where they direct all decisions including oversight of personnel decisions.”
Fogg describes incidents, including Nizami personally ordering books on women’s leadership in Islam, and sexuality studies in Islamic societies, be removed from display in the centre library.
The centre denies the charges. In its statement, it said: “In 2018, after an extensive process of review of his work, Dr Fogg’s request for a yet further period at the centre was declined. It was only after, and it would seem as a result of, the centre turning down his request for a second extension that he has made this allegation of indirect sexual orientation discrimination.”
Fogg will tell the tribunal: “The centre’s decision to dismiss me damaged my career and earning prospects irreparably [and] has had a significant and adverse impact on my mental health. In the two years since my dismissal, I have had significant trouble sleeping, difficulties with eating and episodes of depression - both because of my treatment at the hands of the centre and because of the subsequent uncertainties of extended unemployment.”
Fogg, who now works as an administrator, will say: “I believe it is unlikely that I will ever in the future be employed in the field for which I trained.”
