Employment tribunal cases in the news this week – 14.04.2014 to 20.04.2014

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

  1. Gravesend man Michael Caller told job at Palmer and Harvey was ‘at risk after tumour surgery’ – A cancer sufferer is taking his former employer to a tribunal over claims he was made redundant because he was off work while having surgery. Michael Caller, of West Street, Gravesend, was a transport manager for wholesalers Palmer & Harvey (Kent Online)
  2. Fury as university lecturers told they won’t be paid if they join marking boycott – Lecturers at the University of Liverpool have been told they will not be paid if they join a marking boycott being threatened by a union amid a pay dispute. The UCU union, which represents academics at universities, said the “ultimate sanction” would be introduced unless employers could agree a deal over pay (The Liverpool Echo)
  3. No winner in conflict that led to researcher’s dismissal – Imperial College London acted reasonably in sacking a researcher whose working relationship with his head of department had irretrievably broken down, an employment tribunal has ruled (The Times Higher Education)
  4. Christian nursery worker ‘sacked after refusing to read gay stories to children’ – Sarah Mbuyi, a Christian nursery worker, is to claim she was sacked from her job due to religious discimination, as a group backing her case says David Cameron’s defence of faith is ‘failing to play out’ (The Telegraph)
  5. Male employees sue university for alleged sexual discrimination, claiming unequal pay to women – 26 men are suing a Welsh university over allegations that they have been victims of sexual discrimination in the work place and received unequal pay to their female counterparts. The group of caretakers and tradesman employed by the University of Wales Trinity Saint David are seeking a total of £736,000 (The Independent)
  6. Staffordshire Police officers ‘forced’ to retire in payout bid – Almost every officer forcibly retired by Staffordshire Police has lodged a compensation claim against the force since an employment tribunal ruling that the move was not justified. The force used the A19 regulation from November 30 2011 to January 1 last year to forcibly retire officers with 30 years’ service because serving officers cannot be made redundant (The Express and Star)
  7. 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)
  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 employment tribunal 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 and Alcester 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)