Practice Direction issued by the Senior President of Tribunals: Employment Appeal Tribunal – Courts & Tribunals Judiciary

Posted December 15th, 2021 in appeals, citations, employment tribunals, judgments, practice directions by sally

‘This Practice Direction sets out the arrangements for the neutral citation of judgments of the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) from 1 January 2022. It follows the practice of other jurisdictions including that of the Upper Tribunal.’

Full practice direction

Courts & Tribunals Judiciary, 14th December 2021

Source: www.judiciary.uk

‘Loud’ academic wins unfair dismissal case against university – The Guardian

‘A senior academic who claimed she was sacked because her bosses could not tolerate her “naturally loud” voice and passionate teaching style has won her case for unfair dismissal.’

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The Guardian, 7th December 2021

Source: www.theguardian.com

FCDO racially discriminated against black senior civil servant, tribunal rules – The Guardian

‘The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office racially discriminated against a black senior civil servant after launching an inquiry into her sex life, an employment tribunal has ruled.’

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The Guardian, 30th November 2021

Source: www.theguardian.com

The importance of due process, communication and fairness in employee conduct investigations – what you need to know. – Local Government Lawyer

‘Julie Bann and James Hughes discuss the importance of fairness in employee conduct investigations, taking a look at the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham -v- Mr S Keable case.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 19th November 2021

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Law firm ordered to pay £1,000 for employee’s “racist” comment – Legal Futures

‘A law firm employee has been awarded damages of £1,000 after a colleague targeted him with a discriminatory comment based on his Pakistani heritage.

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Legal Futures, 22nd November 2021

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Consultant solicitor was not an employee, rules employment tribunal – Law Society’s Gazette

‘A former consultant with a Midlands firm has failed to convince a tribunal that he was an employee for the purposes of making a claim.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 18th November 2021

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Solicitor sacked over order to move offices wins tribunal claim – Legal Futures

‘A solicitor has won her claim for wrongful dismissal after being sacked by a law firm for pushing back against a direction to relocate with immediate effect to another office.’

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Legal Futures, 9th November 2021

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

‘Females with fair skin’: Mayfair casino guilty of race discrimination, tribunal finds – The Guardian

Posted November 3rd, 2021 in employment, employment tribunals, equality, gambling, news, race discrimination by sally

‘An exclusive London casino racially discriminated against one of its dealers by allowing a request by a patron not to have black dealers at their table, an employment tribunal has found.’

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The Guardian, 2nd November 2021

Source: www.theguardian.com

New Judgment: Kostal UK Ltd v Dunkley and others [2021] UKSC 47 – UKSC Blog

‘The Appellant and 56 others are all members of the trade union “Unite” and are employed by the Respondent. They began formal annual pay negotiations and the Respondent made a pay offer. Union members were balloted and rejected the offer. The Respondent then made the same offer to its employees directly, bypassing Unite, also saying that if no agreement was reached “this may lead to the company serving notice on your contract of employment”.’

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UKSC Blog, 27th October 2021

Source: ukscblog.com

Menopausal symptoms and disability – Local Government Lawyer

‘The Employment Appeal Tribunal has given its first ruling on menopausal symptoms and disability in a case involving a city council. Jog Hundle considers the judgment.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 22nd October 2021

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Should the right to justice override the principle of transparency? – Law Society’s Gazette

‘Occasionally, a claimant at the employment tribunal will contact the Gazette in distress, after seeing reports of their case apparently plastered all over the internet. Many seem unaware of – and certainly unprepared for – the implications of open justice in the digital age.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 25th October 2021

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Automated Dismissal Decisions, Data Protection and The Law of Unfair Dismissal – by Philippa Collins – UK Labour Law

‘In Summer 2021, Bloomberg published a striking series of stories from working people who had been ‘fired by a machine’. Stephen Normandin had worked for several years for Amazon Flex as a member of a fleet of ‘contract drivers’ who provide same-day delivery services for groceries and packages. Like other members of Amazon’s significant workforce, Stephen’s work was monitored through a system of real-time data collection and algorithmic analysis. Stephen’s performance rating plummeted after a series of unfortunate incidents made his job more difficult: inaccessible gated communities and lockers, unresponsive recipients and unhelpful responses from the company. Shortly after, he received an email stating that his contract had been terminated. Stephen took up the opportunity to appeal the decision but received a series of emails, each with a different name attached, that took him no further. The final email that Stephen received stated that the difficulties he had cited had already been taken into account. His termination stood, even though he was never able to interact ‘live’ with another human being.’

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UK Labour Law, 19th October 2021

Source: uklabourlawblog.com

Martin v City and County of Swansea – Equality Law Blog

Posted October 14th, 2021 in disability discrimination, employment tribunals, equality, news by sally

‘The decision of the EAT in this case provides a useful reminder of the proper approach to the PCP in reasonable adjustment claims. EAT (judge James Tayler, sitting alone) ruled that an employment tribunal had erred in law in rejecting the claimant’s attempt to rely on, as a PCP, a Management of Absence Policy which included discretion which would have permitted, amongst other steps, the claimant’s redeployment to an alternative role. The Tribunal had ruled that the application of the policy to the claimant did not constitute the application of a PCP that placed her at a substantial disadvantage in comparison with non-disabled persons.’

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Equality Law Blog, 13th October 2021

Source: equalitylawblog.com

New Judgment: Anwar v The Advocate General for Scotland (representing the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) (Scotland) [2021] UKSC 44 – UKSC Blog

‘The Supreme Court unanimously dismissed this appeal concerning the petition for judicial review against the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy for failure to provide effective interim protection for successful workplace discrimination and harassment claims, in breach of EU law.’

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UKSC Blog, 13th October 2021

Source: ukscblog.com

Capability and conduct dismissals – Local Government Lawyer

‘Can the Employment Tribunal “go behind” a final written warning? Madeleine Shields reports on a recent Employment Appeal Tribunal ruling.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 8th October 2021

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Students used by law firm for agency advocacy are ‘workers’ – Legal Futures

‘A Bar student who handled agency advocacy work through a law firm was a worker with certain rights and not self-employed, an employment tribunal has ruled.’

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Legal Futures, 8th October 2021

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Calling women ‘birds’ is ‘plainly sexist’, judge rules as Barclays banker wins discrimination claim – The Independent

‘A UK judge has ruled that calling women “birds” is “plainly sexist,” and even using the term jokingly is “foolish” in a landmark discrimination case. The ruling came following a tribunal brought by a Barclays investment banker after her boss repeatedly called women “birds.” ‘

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The Independent, 22nd September 2021

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Law and the Culture War – UK Human Rights Blog

‘The judgment in Forstater v CDG Europe UKEAT/0105/20/JOJ has forced the courts yet again to grapple with the transgender debate. We have already seen the judiciary face up to the challenging issues of whether children with gender dysphoria can consent to receiving puberty blockers (see recent decision in Bell v Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust [2021] EWCA Civ 1363). In the present case, the issue was whether the Claimant’s belief that biological sex is real, important, immutable, and not to be conflated with gender identity was a “philosophical belief” within the meaning of section 10 of Equality Act 2010 (“EqA”).’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 21st September 2021

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

Tribunal declines to strike out pupillage discrimination claim – The Guardian

‘An employment tribunal has refused to strike out a claim that a chambers discriminated against a pupillage applicant even though it has “little reasonable chance” of succeeding.’

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Legal Futures, 21st September 2021

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Woman refused 5pm finish wins £185,000 payout – BBC News

‘Alice Thompson wanted to work shorter hours to pick her daughter up from nursery, but ended up resigning.’

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BBC News, 7th September 2021

Source: www.bbc.co.uk