Employment law stories in the news – 29.03.2021 to 04.04.2021
In the latest of our series of posts on employment law stories in the news we take a look at ten employment law stories that have made headlines between 29 March 2021 and 4 April 2021
- Millionaire owner of Colchester United called disgruntled employee a ‘f*** c’, tribunal hears – A multi-millionaire football chairman told police he had been ‘headbutted’ by a disgruntled employee following a foul-mouthed argument between the pair, an employment tribunal heard (Brinkwire)
- Firefighter sacked for calling short, gay colleague ‘half a man’ awarded £12,000 – A firefighter who was dismissed after calling a gay colleague ‘half a man’, because of his size, has been paid out £12,163 (Metro)
- Return to pre-Covid ways ‘not an option’ in backlogged ET – Virtual hearings will become a constant feature of the employment tribunal even once coronavirus restrictions are lifted, leading judges have predicted (Law Society Gazette)
- Inquiry judge right to issue media ban, court rules – A senior judge was right to prevent the BBC from fully reporting a £2.6m legal claim against Scotland’s child abuse inquiry, a court has ruled. The Court of Session heard in January how Lady Smith, chairwoman of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI), faced an employment tribunal claim in 2019 (BBC)
- Office secretary, 59, wins £86,496 in damages after bullying double-glazing salesmen colleagues taunted her with sex jokes, mocked her walking sticks and taped her fingers together during ‘three-year campaign of harassment’ – An office secretary has won more than £86,000 after a group of ‘unruly’ double glazing salesmen taunted her with sexual jokes, openly mocked her and taped her fingers together (The Daily Mail)
- Muslim bank worker made redundant after phoning bosses on Christmas Day was unfairly dismissed, tribunal rules – A Muslim bank worker made redundant after his relationship with his bosses became “severely strained” following an incident in which he called them on Christmas Day was unfairly dismissed, a tribunal has ruled (People Management)
- ‘Femme fatal’ town clerk who was sacked amid ‘moral disapproval’ of her relationship with councillor as his wife died from Alzheimer’s is awarded more than £55,000 in damages – A ‘femme fatal’ town clerk who was fired amid ‘moral disapproval’ of her relationship with a councillor as his wife died from Alzheimer’s has been awarded more than £55,063 in damages (The Daily Mail)
- Boss asked man with cancer to work more, saying ‘Don’t be a baby’ – A security manager was told by his boss not to “be a baby” after saying he could not work at weekends because he had cancer, an employment tribunal has been told (The Times)
- Color Purple actor fired for homophobia ordered to pay £300,000 court costs after losing legal battle – The Color Purple actor Seyi Omooba has been ordered to pay over £300,000 in court costs after losing a lengthy legal battle over her anti-LGBT+ views (Pink News)
- Financial regulator introduces mandatory training to spot whistleblowers – The UK’s financial watchdog has launched mandatory training to help its staff identify individuals making protected disclosures as part of a wider campaign to encourage people to blow the whistle on any wrongdoing in their organisations (People Management)