Employment law stories in the news this week – 14.04.2014 to 20.04.2014

MoJIn the latest of our series of posts on employment law stories in the news this week, we take a look at ten stories relating to employment law that have made the news between 14 April and 20 April 2014.

  1. Call centre worker spends £30,000 after being accidentally paid £250,000 – A call centre worker spent thousands of pounds after being accidently paid nearly £250,000 by his bosses, a court has heard. In a two-day spending spree, Imran Ahmed, 21, spent almost £30,000 on cars and gambling (The Telegraph)
  2. Teachers claim millions in compensation – Teachers were awarded tens of millions of pounds in compensation last year, after bringing claims for accidents, attacks and discrimination at work. Figures show a surge in payouts to school staff, with the overall totals reaching record levels (Yorkshire Post)
  3. ‘We’ll tackle scandalous zero hour contracts’, says Farage in pitch for working class vote – Nigel Farage has pledged to reform the use of zer0-hour contracts in employment situations so that they are less detrimental to workers (The Express)
  4. Heads roll at Cardiff City in wake of Crystal Palace spying scandal – Cardiff City have dismissed a member of staff and another is likely to be disciplined as heads roll in the aftermath of the Crystal Palace spying saga. Bluebirds chairman Mehmet Dalman has contacted the Premier League to complain after manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team was leaked to Palace last week (Wales Online)
  5. Sacked doctor ‘was unfairly dismissed’, employment tribunal rules – A heart specialist was unfairly sacked after raising concerns about patient safety, a tribunal has ruled. Dr Raj Mattu was dismissed by University Hospital of Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust in 2010 (BBC)
  6. Christian nursery nurse fights ‘unfair’ dismissal – A Christian nursery nurse who claims she lost her job after expressing her views on homosexuality, has told ITV News she’ll fight her dismissal. Sarah Mbuyi insists her actions were justified, when she told a gay colleague at Newpark Nursery in Shepherd’s Bush that the Bible regards homosexuality as a sin (ITV)
  7. Bleasdale loses appeal against unfair dismissal – Kate Bleasdale, the founder and former executive vice-chairman of healthcare and medical recruiter HCL, has had her appeal over unfair dismissal against her former employer dismissed (The Recruiter)
  8. Lincoln mum Jennifer Sammut takes Pizza Express to court over maternity discrimination – A former Pizza Express chef who claims constructive unfair dismissal because she wanted to return to work on reduced hours after pregnancy has taken the company to court (The Lincolnshire Echo)
  9. Man loses disability discrimination case against BT – A former highly paid business improvement official who was dismissed by British Telecom after suffering from depression, anxiety and stress has lost a legal claim for disability discrimination (The Redditch Advertiser)
  10. “Hello darling” greeting and limp wrist gestures were direct discrimination, but not harassment – In this employment tribunal decision, a manager’s detrimental comments about the claimant’s sexuality – including a greeting of “hello darling” with a limp wrist gesture – were found to constitute direct discrimination, but not harassment (Xpert HR)