Truth vs Discrimination: Network Rail
Welcome and thank you for taking the time to read this:
Back in September 2019, I had an accident which I maintain was the result of a defective speedbump, whilst driving my car through the concourse at New Street Train Station in Birmingham.
What should have been a straightforward accident and reporting situation has turned into something far more pernicious which has left me with deep feelings of injustice and prejudice.
From the very outset, upon reporting the incident, I was implicitly treated with suspicion and derision by Network Rail.
We all have certain pre-conceived notions and beliefs about things – some conscious and some unconscious. What I am not willing to accept is when these said beliefs or prejudices are enforced in a way that discriminates and ultimately disadvantages people, myself included.
I have not been treated as the victim of an accident, as one would expect to be, (or maybe not), but instead I have been gaslighted, stonewalled and lied to.
In the pursuit of truth, justice, and fairness I have contacted the health and safety executive and the ICO.
I have also sent numerous letters and emails to Network Rail in order to prove my innocence and seek redress for the extensive damage to my vehicle.
All of which to no avail.
I believe the root cause of this to be discrimination and prejudice. And only when these veiled elements are removed – can the absolute Truth be revealed and laid bare so that justice can be served.
During the course of my extensive investigations some quite astonishing facts have emerged unchallenged. This includes accessible proof that at least one Network Rail employee lied about evidence and failed to process my legally binding Subject Access Request.
Having found that the people I had thus far communicated with on Management level at Network Rail were mired in denial, I penned and posted a 54-page open letter to the Network Rail CEO Peter Haines, wherein I laid out all of my evidence.
In doing so I demonstrated that I have gone above and beyond what should be reasonably expected for a victim to go through in seeking redress – especially from one of the country’s biggest companies.
The response to that letter is here as well as at the bottom and top of this page.
As a result of this wholly inadequate response, and my long-held promise to go public with the way I have been treated, I have uploaded all of the facts I have to hand.
The only facts which I do not have, (to which I have understandably been refused access to by Network Rail), is a chain of email communication between Network Rail and their Solicitors which mention me by name.
I believe these emails would have conclusively provided further evidence in support of my theory as to why I have been persistently treated the way I have.
All the facts are laid out in chronological order with supportive evidence.
I am asking you, the reader to find any fallacies which I have put forward, and by equal measure in an attempt at fairness – try unearthing any fallacies posited by Network Rail (although I have already added some footnotes within the evidence myself).
Why have I gone to such great lengths to expose this?
This has become ‘my bridge too far’ or the proverbial ‘straw to break the camel’s back’ so to speak. The level of ignorance and arrogance from the top of this organisation, right back to the management level of which I first reported my accident to is astonishing.
If this is really where we are as a society; individuals being socially disadvantaged, unheard, and disenfranchised based upon another individual’s flawed subjective reasoning or hasty generalisations – then Houston, we have a problem!
I have detailed the events in their entirety as a historical record so that it may perhaps be able to be used as a case study for students, the general public, organisations and even perhaps companies to look at and dissect.
Originally I saw this as a morality issue – I had faith in Network Rail following due processes and doing the ‘morally right’ thing. I quickly had a gut feeling that wasn’t going to happen, so I pursued and retained evidence and correlated the facts.
Now I believe they have legal obligations which should have been afforded me as a human being and a simple citizen.
If I allow this absurd injustice to go unchallenged – then many others too will continue to fall victim in comparable social situations.
I choose to push back and stand firm for justice.
Upon reading through the facts and seeing what lengths I have had to go through in order to seek redress, I would simply like you to please ask yourself:
“What if this happened to me?”
“What would I expect to happen?”
I am genuinely asking for help from those who can offer support, advice, a means to amplify the message – whatever you think can help in order to bring about justice.
Please read all of the evidence first, then email me.
Throughout my communications with Network Rail, I habitually spoke about ‘Truth’ – and for very good reason…
The wonderful thing about Truth is that it is infinitely divisible by itself.
Inversely, rather than being weakened – Truth becomes stronger.
Truth is in fact anti-fragile.
Barry Chiverton
13 May 2021
My Truths.
Open letter sent to Andrew Haines, CEO of Network Rail.
(Dated: 08 April 2021)
Re: Discrimination and Subjective Processes
Dear Mr. Haines,
I am a black male born in Moseley, Birmingham, England to hard-working parents in 1967.
Throughout my life, from my earliest recollections of primary school right up to the present day, discrimination has been an ever-present thread which, just as for many people from different cultures, religions, ethnicities, beliefs, and orientation is seen as a part of everyday travail outside the comfort and security of one’s own home environment.
Some of the discrimination I have personally witnessed has been quite distinct and overt, whilst other discrimination has been subtle, almost indiscernible acts that give cause to doubt and wonder if one is being over-sensitive and defensive.
But fear not. It has been my experience that if I doubt one ambiguous instance of discrimination – it won’t be long before a clearer and more egregious act appears on center stage with aplomb.
My skin colour is part of me, it makes up one of the self-evident characteristics of me. But it is just one of my characteristics.
My country of origin, my personal viewpoint, my religion, my ethics, my accent – my truths… none of these can be deduced from the appearance of my skin colour.
Unlike someone having a ‘bad hair day’ I cannot hide my skin colour under a hat and pop out to the shops or go about my business discretely incognito. Wherever I go, there my skin colour goes too.
I absolutely accept that.
But what I do not accept is when I am viewed and then discriminated against – whichever part of my ‘human beingness’ that may give rise to such discrimination.
Anecdotally, considering what I am about to recount, my grandmother worked for many years for British Rail at New Street Station, Birmingham until she retired in 1974, before tragically succumbing to cancer the following year.
It pains me to think, as a nation and institutionally we haven’t really moved the moral compass that far forward in the many years which have since passed.
I respectfully assert that if I looked like, or routinely dressed like you, Sir Peter Hendy, or the majority of Network Rail board members, instead of being viewed with suspicion and derision, the very same people who have treated me so appallingly, would have been prostrating and falling over themselves to quickly bring about a resolution to this simplest of matters.
I sustained thousands of pounds worth of damage to my Mercedes while driving over a speed bump at New Street Train Station. This seemingly innocuous incident could have quite easily resulted in serious injury to me, or even fatally injured members of the public.
Instead of the incident being investigated thoroughly and objectively via correct reporting and tracking procedures, I have been consistently treated throughout my ordeal as though I was trying to commit some kind of fraud or deception.
I believe this is based primarily upon the way I look and the type of vehicle I was driving at the time.
It should have been, and still is, a simple matter of following basic accident reporting procedures in order to establish objective truths as opposed to subjective, and possibly discriminatory opinions.
My claim for damages sustained to car has been rejected by Network Rail, and I respectfully would like to say this:
As my claim has been rejected – one of the inferences may be I have made a deceitful claim, and as such Network Rail should bring legal action against me for making such a malicious and false claim, and furthermore pursuing the said deceitful claim again by way of this open letter.
Alternatively, in the interest of justice, fairness, openness, and transparency, I ask you to green-light an immediate investigation into the possibility that processes used by Network Rail have intentionally or otherwise discriminated against me and denied me justice and redress in this instance.
Please allow me to strip away all of the artifice and instead leave the facts laid bare for all to see.
The wonderful thing about truth is that it is infinitely divisible by itself. In fact, far from becoming weaker – truth is in fact anti-fragile.
Here are my truths… with supportive factual evidence.
(I ask you to read very carefully because the truths are self-evident throughout)…