Employment law cases in the news – 31.10.2016 to 06.11.2016

redmans-blog-newsIn the latest of our series of posts on employment law cases in the news, we take a look at seven employment law cases that have made the news between 31 October and 6 November 2016

  1. Army chief says dismissed medic ‘could pose security risk’ because he wanted full inquest into death of Iraq weapons expert Dr David Kelly – A senior military medic admitted falsely accusing a doctor who blew the whistle on a suspected Army drugs racket of wrongly prescribing super-strength tablets to a wounded soldier. Major Carole Phillips told an employment tribunal that she had written a draft report to Dr Stephen Frost’s bosses stating that he had dispensed methadone sulphate which was six times the intended dose (The Mail Online)
  2. Whistleblowing judge told she was not an MoJ employee – A district judge who went public with her concerns about the justice system has been told she cannot be afforded protections as a whistleblower. The Employment Appeal Tribunal this week ruled that Claire Gilham was an office-holder and did not work under a contract of employment with the Ministry of Justice (The Law Society Gazette)
  3. City boss sues for £1m over claims of ‘unrelenting’ homophobic abuse – A gay asset manager who claims he was sacked by a top City hedge fund after an “unrelenting” campaign of homophobic abuse is suing his former bosses for more than £1 million. Paul Newton, 43, says he was subjected to limp-wristed hand gestures, jibes about his long hair, and he was regularly called “camp” and effeminate while working for Balyasny Europe Asset Management (The Evening Standard)
  4. Ex-VIP protection officer granted £450,000 by employment tribunal – A firearms officer has been awarded £457,664 in damages after winning a race discrimination employment tribunal against Cleveland Police (The Northern Echo)
  5. Chaplain accused of quoting ‘homophobic’ Bible verses appeals case – A prison chaplain who resigned after he was accused of quoting “homophobic” Bible verses has been given a chance to appeal his unfair dismissal case. According to Premier, Rev. Barry Trayhorn worked at HMP Littlehey in Bedfordshire as a gardener and volunteered to lead the services in the prison chapel (The Christian Times)
  6. Former Alex cancer surgeon investigated over patient deaths loses unfair dismissal case – A cancer surgeon sacked from Redditch’s Alexandra Hospital for gross misconduct after making whistle-blowing allegations about “management failings” has lost his unfair dismissal claim (The Evesham Journal)
  7. Disabled teacher sacked over Halloween film awarded £180,000 from York Council – A disabled teacher who was sacked for gross misconduct after showing the 18-certificate film Halloween to 16-year-old students has won at least £180,000 compensation from York Council (The Yorkshire Post)