Employment cases in the news – 15.09.2014 to 21.09.2014

In the latest of our series of posts on employment law cases in the news this week, we take a look at ten employment law cases that have made the news between 15.09.2014 and 21.09.2014.

1. Tribunal costs boost for in-house lawyers – In-house lawyers working on employment tribunal claims may need to adopt time-recording practices similar to those in private firms following an appeal ruling. In Ladak v DRC Locums Ltd (UKEAT/0488/13/LA), the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that costs awarded can include time spent by a qualified in-house legal representative (Law Society Gazette)
2. Senior Cambrian nurse alleges she’s been blacklisted – A senior north Cumbrian nurse has called into question the relationship between health trusts and managers across the North of England, claiming they have blacklisted her from jobs she is fully qualified for. Sarina Saiger says she has lost years of her life due to the way she has been treated since winning a high profile race discrimination claim against North Cumbria’s hospitals (The News and Star)
3. G4S security guard was ‘sacked as scapegoat’ for anti-tax avoidance protest at HM Treasury offices – A security guard at HM Treasury was sacked as a “scapegoat” after anti-tax avoidance activists entered the building to stage a protest, an employment tribunal has ruled. Wilfred Onyia was on duty at the Treasury headquarters in central London last year when protesters gathered in the reception area wearing wearing straw boater hats and carrying champagne, balloons, flowers and cake (The Mirror)
4. Employment Tribunal finds school underpaid agency worker temp by over £10,000 – The employment tribunal held in this case that the hirer, and not the temporary worker agency, was liable to pay compensation to the agency worker for failure to pay her at the rate she would have been paid had she been directly recruited by the hirer as an employee (Xpert HR)
5. Big Fat Gypsy Wedding designer gets compensation payout – One of the former dressmakers on My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding has been awarded more than £8,000 in compensation from her ex-boss. Leanne Phillips was sacked from the Liverpool travellers’ boutique, Nico Bridal Company, in December 2012 after rowing with Thelma Madine (BBC)
6. Golf club bar manager wins unfair dismissal case – A judge has ruled in favour of a bar manager at a valleys golf club who argued he was unfairly dismissed following claims he had falsified weekly bar statements. John Patrick McGuigan, from Bargoed, was suspended from his job at Bargoed Golf Club after the annual accounts showed a deficit in the region of £5,300 (Wales Online)
7. Dudley dinner ladies served up with legal bills after council wins costs claim – A quartet of Dudley dinner ladies have been hit with legal bills of £5,400 after losing same pay claims. The school lunch supervisory assistants who lost their claims for the same pay as council road sweepers and gardeners now have to pay Dudley Councils legal bill (Dudley News)
8. Police pay out £200k over race discrimination dispute – Senior officers in Bedfordshire Police have been found to have discriminated against one of their own sergeants because of his race. An employment tribunal, held in East London earlier this year, found the actions of some senior officers prevented Harmit Bahra from rising through the ranks because he is of an Indian background (Bedfordshire News)
9. Ex-Shropshire security staff make claims for unpaid wages – Nearly 20 Shropshire employees have made legal claims for at least £60,000 from the Government after complaining their Telford security firm went into liquidation without paying them unpaid wages, redundancy and notice and holiday pay (Shropshire Star)
10. Pinsents faces three sets of unfair dismissal claims from former lawyers – Pinsent Masons is fielding three employment tribunal claims from an employment partner, senior associate and associate stemming from its employment practice restructuring last year (The Lawyer)