Yajuvendrasinh Parmar to appeal order over racism, discrimination claims

A scientist at the centre of explosive allegations of racism and corruption after he was rejected from a role at a major Sunshine Coast Hospital has spoken out.

Queensland Health scientist Yajuvendrasinh Parmar, who worked at the Caboolture Hospital but now works in Brisbane, applied for a job at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital in 2022 and was short-listed for the role, but later found out he was not the successful candidate. Photo: iStock

A Queensland Health scientist who accused his workplace of racism and corruption after he was rejected from a role at a Sunshine Coast hospital has spoken out.

Yajuvendrasinh Parmar, who worked at the Caboolture Hospital but now works in Brisbane, applied for a job at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital in 2022 and was short-listed for the role, but later found out he was not the successful candidate.

Publicly available Queensland Industrial Relations Commission documents state Mr Parmar then accused Queensland Health of discrimination and corruption, claiming an unsuitable candidate got the job.

He then applied to appeal a decision in the Industrial Commission where the Queensland Ethical Standards Unit (ESU) said his claims did not equate to corrupt conduct and that the recruitment process showed no evidence of discrimination.

But Industrial Commissioner Jacqueline Power said the matter could not be appealed under the Public Sector Act, and it was ordered Mr Parmar’s appeal would not be heard.

Now, Mr Parmar has aired explosive claims and revealed he is in the process of appealing Commissioner Power’s order.

The documents state Mr Parmar made the accusations some months after he was told he was not successful for a role, but on June 16 he told the Sunshine Coast Daily this was because he only found out who was hired several months after the fact.

He claimed there was no diversity at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital, and that they “don’t hire any dark skinned people”.

Sunshine Coast University Hospital referred the Sunshine Coast Daily inquiries onto Queensland Health’s Metro North Hospital and Health Service which said it was unable to comment as it was an ongoing matter.

In the documents, Mr Parmar claimed the recruitment process was “unfair” and an “unskilled person” was hired over a “suitable candidate”.

A Queensland Health spokeswoman previously said, in relation to Mr Parmar’s first matter in the Industrial Court, that the organisation was “committed to building a skilled and diverse multicultural workforce”.

Queensland Health’s publicly available Diversity and Inclusion policy document dated July, 2021, states the sector aims at attracting and keeping a mix of diversity, skills and experience at all levels to create a more diverse and representative workforce.

Mr Parmar said Queensland Health and the Ethical Standards Unit were not taking his allegations seriously.

“I am only asking for a fair investigation of the (recruitment) process,” he said.

The appeal process is ongoing, and an outcome is yet to be reached.

Queensland Health declined to comment on the appeal as it was an ongoing matter.

Originally published as Yajuvendrasinh Parmar to appeal order over racism, discrimination claims