Unmarried partners still missing bereavement payments – BBC News
‘Means-tested payments of up to £10,000 are made to parents whose husband, wife or civil partner has died.’
BBC News, 3rd March 2020
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Category: equality
ICTS (UK) Ltd v Visram (2020) EWCA 202 – Old Square Chambers
‘Do the words “return to work” in a long-term disability scheme mean return to any work or the work that the employee was undertaking prior to going on long term sickness?’
Old Square Chambers, 24th February 2020
Source: www.oldsquare.co.uk
Claimant fails in judicial review challenge over Qualified One-Way Costs-Shifting and discrimination claims – Local Government Lawyer
‘A High Court judge has rejected a judicial review challenge over an asserted decision of the Lord Chancellor not to extend Qualified One-Way Costs-Shifting (QOCS) to discrimination claims in the County Court and/or the failure to extend QOCS to such claims.’
Local Government Lawyer, 24th February 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Samira Ahmed and BBC reach equal pay settlement – Daily Telegraph
‘Samira Ahmed and the BBC have reached a settlement after the presenter won her equal pay claim against the corporation.’
Daily Telegraph, 24th February 2020
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
High Court grants permission for planning judicial review challenge over alleged Equality Act breach – Local Government Lawyer
‘A High Court judge has granted permission for a planning judicial review challenge in part over an alleged breach of the public sector equality duty, Landmark Chambers has reported.’
Local Government Lawyer, 21st February 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Twitter, trans rights and the role of the police — an extended look – – UK Human Rights Blog
‘The case of R (Miller) v The College of Policing & The Chief Constable of Humberside [2020] EWHC 225 (Admin) is yet another decision arising out of an individual’s use of Twitter to share transphobic, or as they see it “gender critical”, views.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 21st February 2020
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
BAME Workers’ Legal Bid Over ‘Inferior’ Pay And Terms Could Affect Millions – Each Other
‘A “landmark” legal case could determine whether the use of outsourcing firms to employ black and minority ethnic (BAME) workers on “inferior” pay and conditions is discriminatory.’
Each Other, 21st February 2020
Source: eachother.org.uk
Court rejects judicial review over failure to extend QOCS – Litigation Futures
‘The High Court has rejected a challenge to the Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) failure to extend qualified one-way costs shifting (QOCS) to discrimination claims in the county court.’
Litigation Futures, 20th February 2020
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
Reasonable adjustments – Is it relevant that the employee didn’t mention them? – 3PB
‘The dispute arose from the claimant’s back problems, which, it was agreed, made her disabled within the Equality Act 2010. She was unable to travel far and wanted to work mainly from home. This caused difficulty because her role, auditing the performance of National Health Service bodies, was “client facing” and required her to visit those bodies. She was eventually dismissed for reason of ill-health capability after an occupational health report and negotiations with her union representative. The respondent was concerned that she was not meeting her financial targets, i.e. the required amount of chargeable time billed to the respondent’s clients. These receipts from clients funded her salary. There were not enough clients within the short travelling distance from her home that she could manage.’
3PB, 7th February 2020
Source: www.3pb.co.uk
Court of Appeal provides guidance on “borough-wide” injunctions – No. 5 Chambers
‘Bromley LBC had secured a without notice interim injunction in the High Court which prohibited encampment and entry/occupation in relation to all accessible public spaces in the Borough except cemeteries and highways. These amounted to 139 parks, recreation grounds or open spaces, and 32 public car parks. Although the injunction was against “persons unknown”, it was widely understood that the injunction was aimed at the Gypsy and Traveller community.’
No. 5 Chambers, 12th February 2020
Source: www.no5.com
Ethical veganism: a philosophical belief – 3PB
‘The Claimant, Mr Casamitjana, was dismissed from his role at the League Against Cruel Sports in April 2018 after disclosing to colleagues that the company’s pension funds were being invested ‘unethically’. This was considered by the Respondent to be contrary to a management instruction not to provide financial advice to his colleagues. The Claimant brought claims of indirect discrimination, direct discrimination/harassment and victimisation by reference to his belief in ethical veganism, and PIDA detriment and dismissal, and wrongful dismissal.’
3PB, 7th February 2020
Source: www.3pb.co.uk
Sexist comments “remain rife” in legal profession – Legal Futures
‘Some 58% of women in the legal profession say they or women they work with have received inappropriate comments from male colleagues relating to their gender, new research has found.’
Legal Futures, 17th February 2020
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
Watchdog rejects Met’s claim that he supported facial recognition – The Guardian
‘The official biometrics commissioner has rebuked the Metropolitan police after it falsely claimed that he supported its use of facial recognition CCTV in an equalities impact assessment published as the force made its first operational use of the controversial technology.’
The Guardian, 12th February 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
Equalities watchdog launches inquiry into use of restraint in schools – Local Government Lawyer
‘The Equality and Human Rights Commission has launched a formal inquiry into how schools are monitoring and recording their use of restraint, “following widespread concerns about its use and the lack of data available”.’
Local Government Lawyer, 12th February 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Disability Discrimination: Long-Term Requirement – Pallant Chambers
‘Until Tesco Stores Ltd v Tennant UKEAT/0167/19 there was no direct authority on whether it was possible to pursue claims of alleged disability discrimination during the 12-month period starting from the date the impairment met all the other requirements under the legislation.’
Pallant Chambers, 5th February 2020
Source: www.pallantchambers.co.uk
“Artificial intelligence, machine learning, Algorithms and discrimination law: The new frontier” – Cloisters
‘Robin Allen QC spoke on “Artificial intelligence, machine learning, Algorithms and discrimination law: The new frontier” at Michael Rubenstein’s Annual Discrimination Law Conferences in London and Edinburgh this month.’
Cloisters, 7th February 2020
Source: www.cloisters.com
Bereavement payments for co-habiting couples urged – BBC News
‘A landmark legal case has found denying bereavement payments to co-habiting couples is against human rights law.’
BBC News, 7th February 2020
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
