THE nursery manager at the centre of a discrimination row after allegedly rejecting Humza Yousaf's daughter a place because of her "ethnic sounding name" is reportedly still working.
The Health Secretary and his wife Nadia El-Nakla have called for a formal investigation after their child, and others with Muslim sounding names, were rejected, while toddlers with non-ethnic names were admitted.
The couple, and a reporter from the Daily Record, set up fake profiles before contacting Little Scholars Nursery in Broughty Ferry, in a bid to confirm their suspicions.
Those profiles with "white" names were offered places and nursery tours, while the ethnic families were turned down.
READ MORE: Humza Yousaf blasts nursery for rejecting his daughter 'due to ethnic name'
And now, the Scotsman reports that manager Michelle Mill, who refused Yousaf's daughter and the other ethnic minority applicants a place, is still working at the nursery.
The nursery has said it "stands by" Mill and said she is a "valued member" of the team.
However, Yousaf, who reported the nursery to the Care Inspectorate, said he has still not been given an explanation.
He said: “So far, we are yet to receive an explanation from the nursery as to why this has happened.
Yousaf said he and his family had not yet been given an explanation
"There has been no investigation, no apology and no confirmation that protocols are being introduced to make sure this doesn’t happen again in the future.
“In fact, the lack of communication from the nursery has been deafening and, unless we receive answers to our wholly reasonable questions, we will be left to draw the only possible conclusion that we have been discriminated against by either company policy or a rogue employee.”
The Little Scholars Nursery is registered with Companies House as Sword (nursery) Ltd and owned by the Glasgow-based Fowdar family.
The Fowdar's also own a chain of care homes, including Thistle Healthcare, which was criticised by staff and whistleblowers after 23 elderly residents died of Covid-19 at an East Kilbride home last year.
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A spokesperson for Little Scholars Day Nursery said: “Our nursery is extremely proud of being open and inclusive to all and any claim to the contrary is demonstrably false and an accusation that we would refute in the strongest possible terms.
"We also stand by the member of our staff, named by the media, who has been with us since the nursery opened 14 years ago. She is professional, compassionate, incredibly hard working and a valued member of our team.
“In addition to our owners being of Asian heritage, across more than a decade we have regularly welcomed both children and staff from a range of different religious, cultural, ethnic and racial backgrounds including two Muslim families currently.
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"We have also regularly made arrangements to accommodate different lifestyles by, for example, providing a halal menu for those children who come from Muslim families.
“We note Mr Yousaf’s call for a Care Inspectorate investigation and this is something we would absolutely welcome.
"We have nothing to hide and look forward to the opportunity to demonstrate the policies and procedures we have in place to ensure we are a nursery that is open and welcoming to all.”
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