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

  1. 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)
  2. 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)
  3. 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)
  4. 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)
  5. 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)
  6. 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)
  7. ‘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)
  8. 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)
  9. 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)
  10. 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)