Employment law cases in the news – 08.09.2014 to 14.09.2014

In the latest of our series of posts on employment law cases in the news this week, we take a look at ten employment law cases that have made the news between 8 September and 14 September 2014.

1. Ex-BGC Broker Who Gave Good as He Got Loses Bullying Suit – A London broker who said he was bullied at BGC Partners Inc. (BGCP) lost his lawsuit against the company as a judge ruled he gave at least as good as he got on a trading floor that was rife with insults and abuse (Bloomberg)
2. Sports Direct faces action from zero-hours staff over bonus scheme – Sports Direct, the retailer founded by billionaire Mike Ashley, is facing legal action from 250 workers excluded from a multimillion-pound bonus scheme because they were on zero-hours contracts. Lawyers acting for the part-time staff, who worked at the high street chain between April 2008 and August last year, are preparing to file multiple claims for breach of contract at the high court (The Guardian)
3. Duke of Cambridge dragged into row over Richard Scudamore’s sexist emails – Prince William was dragged into the Richard Scudamore sexism scandal after being asked to use his position as president of the Football Association to reverse its decision not to investigate the Premier League’s chief executive. Lawyers acting for the whistle-blower who leaked offensive emails exchanged by Scudamore at the end of last season also confirmed she was suing the FA over its refusal to look into the matter, having already launched legal action against the Premier League for sex discrimination and harassment she claims to have suffered (The Telegraph)
4. Gay priest plans legal action against Church – A gay Southwell priest who was prevented from taking up a new role at Kings Mill Hospital because he is in a same-sex marriage is taking legal action against the Church. Canon Jeremy Pemberton was refused a licence to work as head chaplain at the Sutton hospital by the acting bishop of Southwell and Nottingham (The Hucknall Dispatch)
5. Black police officer takes GMP to a second employment tribunal alleging racism – A black police officer is taking Greater Manchester Police to an industrial tribunal alleging racial discrimination for a second time. Det Con Paul Bailey, chair of the Manchester-based Black and Asian Police Association, is alleging he was treated differently to white colleagues when he was moved from a secondment with the North West Regional Crime Unit back to GMP (The Manchester Evening News)
6. Hard rock singer ‘forced to quit job at shelving firm after rejecting advances of older female colleague who slapped his buttocks, pushed her breasts against him and called his girlfriend a bimbo’ – A rock singer quit his day job after a female colleague sexually harassed him by slapping his bottom and calling him lewd names, a tribunal heard. Tom Ford, 31, said Lucy Myers constantly complimented his looks, gave him gifts and bought cooked food into work for him to win his affection (The Daily Mail)
7. Breaking wind near colleagues, defacing ID cards and switching language on their computers: Tribunal lifts the lid on ‘prank’ culture that turned rotten in EE call centre – An employment tribunal has lifted the lid on a ‘prank’ culture in an EE call centre that resulted in a man being kicked unconscious at his desk. Workers at the mobile giant’s site in Darlington engaged in ‘occasional incidents of banter’ to lighten up the ‘somewhat mundane and repetitive’ work, the hearing in Teesside heard (The Daily Mail)
8. Town council rejects £50,000 bid by sacked clerk to settle dispute so now its off to an employment tribunal – An employment tribunal will determine if Wisbech town clerk Erbie Murat was unfairly sacked after councillors rejected his claim for £50,000 compensation. Mr Murat offered to withdraw his action if the town council made a £45,000 settlement with a further £5,000 towards his legal costs (The Wisbech Standard)
9. £45,000 payout to betting shop staff sacked for serving a child – A betting firm has been forced to pay out almost £45,000 to three former employees after sacking them for serving a 16-year-old boy believed to have produced fake ID. Mary Ann Napier, Debbie McDaide and Christopher Imrie were dismissed from their posts in a Lanarkshire William Hill betting shop after the teenager’s mother complained to the police (The Herald Scotland)
10. Female professor loses equal pay appeal – A female University of London professor has lost a sex discrimination case against her employer after it was found that her male colleagues’ bonus payments were retention fees, despite her claim that the university’s genuine material factor defence was tainted (Employee Benefits)