Employment law cases in the news – 14.08.2017 to 20.08.2017

In the latest of our series of posts on employment law cases in the news, we take a look at ten employment law cases that have made headlines between 14 August and 20 August 2017

1. Fangs a lot: claim of blood-licking after vampire lecture – In the world of vampires you are never far away from a bit of bloodletting. Now an academic who is a leading expert on “real-life vampires” is at the centre of a furore involving allegations of blood-tasting following one of his classes (The Times)
2. Army doctor sacked for duty of care failure not ‘whistleblowing’, tribunal rules – A doctor who said he was unfairly sacked by the Ministry of Defence for whistleblowing has had his claim dismissed by an employment tribunal (ITV)
3. Bradford co-owner says players’ legal action contributed to relegation – Bradford co-owner Andrew Chalmers says the legal action being brought by a host of players and staff played a major role in the club’s failure to stave off relegation from the Championship (Sporting Life)
4. Employment ‘first’: time limit extended after fees ruled unlawful – One of the first employment tribunal cases to be affected by the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling that fees are unlawful has been reported by barristers chambers Ely Place (The Law Society Gazette)
5. National Minimum Wage: Workers win £2m compensation – Workers whose bosses failed to pay the National Minimum Wage are to be refunded a record £2m, the government has revealed. In its latest “name and shame” campaign, it lists 230 employers which have not complied with the law (BBC)
6. Hairdresser ordered to pay back employee – A Stamford hairdresser has been ordered to pay her former employee more than £5,000 in wages owing and compensation at an employment tribunal (The Stamford Mercury)
7. Solicitor slapped with costs order after withdrawing claim against former employer – A solicitor has been ordered to pay £500 in costs after withdrawing a series of claims against her former firm. Margaret Lewer had been employed as a private client solicitor by McMillan Williams, one of the largest law firms in the South of England, with branches in London and Bath (Solicitors Journal)
8. Former JD Sports worker sues for £60,000 claiming she caught scabies working in store ‘infested with rats’ – A former JD Sports worker is suing the firm for £60,000 – claiming she caught scabies working in a rat-infested flagship branch. Ex-supervisor Aishah McDevitt, 21, also says she was overworked, underpaid and “bullied” into demotions during four years with the firm and was discriminated against because of her age (The Daily Record)
9. Age UK Knaresborough & District “unfairly dismissed” employee, tribunal finds – An employment tribunal found a former employee of the charity had been unfairly dismissed, but rejected a further claim that she had been wrongfully dismissed (The Third Sector)
10. Paper coating company fined after worker suffered burns – A paper coating company has been fined after a worker suffered burns following a fire on a coating machine. Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court heard how an Olympic Varnish Company Limited employee suffered burn injuries following a fire caused by use of highly flammable liquid to clean rollers on a coating machine (HSE)