A GREEN PARTY equalities and diversity officer launched a fundraiser today to take the party to court for alleged racial discrimination and victimisation.

Rashid Nix said that he experienced several years of “micro-racism” and that the “situation came to a head” last year when he applied for a campaign manager position.

The job was on the Greens’ team for the 2020 Greater London Authority elections, now suspended due to coronavirus. 

Mr Nix said that the post was within his ability as he had previously run successful election campaigns in 2015 and 2016.

But he said that he was “shocked” to find out that his anonymised application form was “identified” and he was not shortlisted for an interview.

Mr Nix wrote on his fundraiser page: “I suspected there were factors involved other than my campaigning ability when deciding not to interview me.”

He also accused the party and its lawyers of hoping that he will abandon his discrimination claim as he is currently without a lawyer.

His previous lawyer pressured him to accept and comply with a “gagging order” as part of a proposed settlement. 

Mr Nix said: “They want to remove my right to speak about my experiences, which is ironic as the Greens also like to pride themselves as the party that supports whistle-blowers … as long as the whistle blowing is outside.

“My case is about seeking justice from a political party that should know better.”

His target to raise £8,000 would pay for a replacement lawyer to take the case to an employment tribunal, where he said he hopes the party will be asked to explain to a judge how their shortlisting procedures work.

His fundraiser can be found here: bit.ly/2F7hIzP

The Green Party has yet to respond to the Star’s request for comment.