(RoyalPatriot.com )- The chief of the Royal Air Force’s recruitment team resigned after reportedly informing supervisors their diversity aims were “illegal.”
The Group Captain, whose identity has not been published, has left the role but is still a serving RAF officer, the Ministry of Defence stated.
In an email dated August 4, the officer said she wouldn’t award training places based on gender or ethnicity.
“This is unlawful,” she wrote. “I won’t delegate or abdicate responsibility for that command to my personnel.”
Defense sources said the captain resigned the same day because she was not prepared to implement the “course loading” order or force it on her crew. Positive discrimination, where someone is promoted purely because of a protected attribute, is illegal. However, a company may lawfully take positive measures to increase workplace diversity.
An RAF spokesman claimed the concerns voiced by the now-resigned chief of recruitment were “handled by the Chain of Command at the time.”
A report last week alleged that top brass had ordered a hold on recruiting white men to satisfy diversity targets.
This injunction was granted in late June.
A second “course loading order” was issued by the Chain of Command on August 2.
Two days later, the Group Captain wrote in an email that the order to load women and ethnic minorities alone was “not actioned.”
She wrote that this direction is to give offers of employment to additional women and EM [ethnic minority] candidates purely based on their protected features and in preference to non-EM men who have passed all selection criteria ahead of them.
She thinks supporting the RAF’s commitment to boosting diversity is crucial. But it should be done by legal and proportionate measures.
An RAF spokesman said Sunday that the RAF recruits from the largest possible pool of talent and is growing more diverse, but they will not do so at the expense of their high standards, operational effectiveness, or adherence to legal obligations.
They constantly assess their recruitment methods and seek legal counsel to ensure they meet their legal commitments.
