Employment tribunal cases in the news this week – 09.12.2013 to 15.12.2013

In the latest of our series of posts on employment tribunal cases in the news this week, we take a look at a number of Employment Tribunal cases that have made the news this week.

  1. ‘Frank Bruno’ jibe fire chief loses claim for race discrimination – A black fire station commander who alleged colleagues called him ‘Frank’, after boxing champion Frank Bruno, has lost a claim for race discrimination. Birmingham-based Warren Simpson, said to be the highest-ranked black officer in the West Midlands, claimed his career path was blocked and transfer requests were ignored (The Birmingham Mail)
  2. Witch sacked for taking Halloween off work to attend Wiccan ceremony wins £15,000 after claiming religious discrimination – A Pagan witch has won a religious discrimination case after claiming she was sacked for attending a Halloween ceremony. Karen Holland, 45, was awarded more than £15,000 by the courts in what is believed to be the first payout of its kind in Britain (The Mail Online)
  3. Employment tribunal hears assault row after council officer flicked colleague’s ear – A bitter row erupted at a Swindon Council team tasked with tackling anti-social behaviour after an officer flicked a colleague’s ears, a tribunal has heard. Ian Napier was dismissed following a complaint by Debbie Chadwick-Edgar, who complained that she had been “assaulted” by the former police officer (The Swindon Advertiser)
  4. Shropshire worker sacked over yoghurt dates mix-up – Advising consumers over the best dates on which to enjoy their yoghurts turned sour for a Shropshire supervisor when he was given the sack. Darren Egan, of Orleton Terrace, Wellington, lost his job at T M UK Production Ltd of Shrewsbury Road, Market Drayton, after yoghurts were produced featuring the wrong “best before” dates (The Shropshire Star)
  5. Former Droitwich police woman loses legal claim for disability discrimination – A former Droitwich policewoman who was refused a two year career break by West Midlands Police after complaining of bullying and suffering from ME, has lost a legal claim for disability discrimination against the force (The Droitwich Spa Advertiser)
  6. Woman administrator awarded £48,650 compensation after her boss’ sexual advances – A woman administrator was awarded more than £45,000 compensation today after her boss told her he wanted sex over a desk at a private hospital. Married Vanessa Turley, 41, was outrage at sexual approaches from Dr Chuma Igbokwe, 45, at the hospital where he was director (Wales Online)
  7. Town Clerk unfairly dismissed – An employment tribunal has upheld the unfair constructive dismissal claim of former Ludlow town clerk Veronica Calderbank. The tribunal found that there were “fundamental breaches” of Mrs Calderbank’s contract with Ludlow Town Council entitling her to resign (The Ludlow and Tenbury Wells Advertiser)
  8. Neuroscientist Thelma Lovick wins tribunal victory over Birmingham – The unfair dismissal of a senior neuroscientist for breaches of animal experimentation licences has been described by a prominent supporter as both “cock-up and conspiracy” (The Times Higher Education)