Employment law cases in the news – 30.03.2015 to 05.04.2015

redmans-blog-newsIn the latest of our series of posts on employment law cases in the news, we take a look at ten employment law cases that have made the news between 30 March and 5 April 2015

  1. Retired teacher who was exposed to asbestos received £210,000 after mesothelioma diagnosis – A retired teacher who spent 11 years working in classrooms containing asbestos secured a personal injury claim for £210,000 after she was diagnosed with mesothelioma, the NASUWT union has revealed (Schools Week)
  2. Call that justice? Downend waitress wins nearly £6k after she wasn’t paid but has only received £187 – Cafe waitress Helen Fussell has discovered the hard way that justice doesn’t pay.  She took her former boss to court for non-payment of wages and costs but despite a judgement in her favour, she is still owed nearly £6,000 (Bristol Post)
  3. Company fined after worker’s ladder fall – A Birmingham shopfitting firm has been prosecuted for safety failings after a worker broke eight ribs in a ladder fall. Birmingham Magistrates’ Court heard that wood machinist Alan Sweet was working at A Edmonds and Co Ltd’s factory in Constitution Hill when the incident happened on 29 August 2014 (HSE)
  4. Safety flaws at food business exposed at court – A Southampton worker suffered serious injuries when his arm was dragged into an unguarded part of a conveyor belt at a chicken hatchery business in Romsey, a court heard (HSE)
  5. Christian NHS worker appeals ruling she ‘bullied’ Muslim colleague by praying for her – A Christian health worker who was found to have bullied and harassed a junior Muslim colleague when she prayed for her has launched an appeal, saying the ruling breached her human rights (The Telegraph)
  6. Judge rules on woman sacked after pupils got drunk on trip to Indian – A former houseparent at an East Lancashire private school has proved she was unfairly dismissed after it was alleged that she allowed youngsters to get drunk during a supervised trip out (The Burnley Citizen)
  7. Demoted BA engineer wins claim for unfair dismissal – An aircraft engineer who quit after he was demoted to a mechanic has won his claim for unfair dismissal against British Airways. John Higgins, from High Blantyre, South Lanarkshire, worked as an aircraft maintenance supervisor for the firm. He was dismissed after he installed the wrong part on a plane at British Airways Maintenance Glasgow a year ago (Herald Scotland)
  8. Sacked City Link workers could win six-figure compensation – Workers sacked by collapsed Coventry parcel firm City Link could share a compensation payout totalling more than a million pounds, lawyers say. All claims have now been lodged with a tribunal after it was revealed earlier this month former staff are to sue (The Coventry Observer)
  9. Black officer launches furious tirade at U-turn bosses who have vowed to appeal a damning race tribunal verdict – A black police officer has slammed his bosses as ‘immoral’ after they vowed to challenge an employment tribunal which ruled he had been the victim of race discrimination (The Manchester Evening News)
  10. Firm fined after worker burned in flash fire – A Moray-based firm has been fined for safety failings after a worker was seriously injured in a flash fire. Ravenhill Limited employee Norman Thomson, then 49, from Rothienorman, Aberdeenshire, was caught in a flashover as he opened the door to a shed which housed a pressure washer after spotting smoke seeping out from the edges (HSE)