Employment law stories in the news – 01.06.2020 to 07.06.2020

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 made headlines between 1 June 2020 and 7 June 2020

  1. Civil servant, 59, who was awarded £250k damages after she was branded racist for saying it always rains in Wales admits she was left on the brink of a nervous breakdown and wants to move house to escape more abuse – A civil servant who was awarded £250,000 after winning a legal dispute after being branded racist has said she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown (The Mail Online)
  2. Church minister who wrote Sinitta’s ‘So Macho’ wins claim over alleged homophobia – A church minister who wrote the disco anthem So Macho for the singer Sinitta has won a religious discrimination claim after stating that people who said homosexuals were born that way were making the same argument as paedophiles (The Telegraph)
  3. Staff compensation claims reach £523k after firm’s closure – Claims by former employees of a shut-down firm have now exceeded £500,000, as staff try to claw back lost redundancy pay and other monies due to them (The Law Society Gazette)
  4. Dominic Cummings will give evidence in employment tribunal showdown with ex-adviser Sonia Khan who was sacked and marched out of Number 10 after being accused of lying over her dealings with ex-Chancellor Philip Hammond – Dominic Cummings will be named and expected to give evidence in an employment tribunal over the sacking of ex-chancellor Sajid Javid’s former aide, Sonia Khan (The Mail Online)
  5. Companies face welter of whistleblowing over fraud and safety – At a time when businesses’ reputations as employers are particularly vulnerable, how they deal with complaints and handle internal investigations could be key to future recovery and success (Personnel Today)
  6. Workers at Jamie Oliver’s collapsed restaurant empire awarded £250,000 at tribunal – Former workers at Jamie Oliver’s collapsed restaurant empire have been awarded around £250,000 by a tribunal (The Sun)
  7. Coronavirus ‘test and trace’ system could prompt employment disputes surge, experts warn – Staff fears around insufficient safety measures at work and the prospect of redundancies could also spur an increase in tribunal claims, employers cautioned (People Management)
  8. Whistleblowing case against Sellafield and NDA takes unusual turn – A legal battle by a Sellafield whistleblower has taken an unusual turn. Diversity and inclusion consultant Alison McDermott submitted a whistleblowing and victimisation claim to the Employment Tribunal against Sellafield and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority after her contract was terminated in 2018 (In-Cumbria)
  9. Oil company fined £1.2m after two workers suffer multiple burn injuries – Oil refinery company, Phillips 66 Ltd was sentenced for safety breaches after two workers in North Lincolnshire suffered life-changing injuries from an uncontrolled release of high pressure and high temperature steam (HSE)
  10. When employment contracts come with exit fees – Some graduates who leave their first job early are charged thousands of pounds for ‘training costs’ (Financial Times)