Employment law stories in the news – 01.01.2018 to 07.01.2018

In the latest of our series of posts on employment law stories in the news, we take a look at ten employment law stories that have made headlines between 1 January and 7 January 2018

  1. Café worker was unfairly dismissed – A judge has awarded a former catering employee £1,850, saying that she was unfairly dismissed from a Harlech café following a dispute over holiday pay (Cambrian News)
  2. Ex-Credit Agricole Intern Loses Suit Alleging Boss’s Misogyny – A former Credit Agricole intern lost her lawsuit against the bank that alleged a male-dominated working atmosphere — which she said included pornography and animal noises — was “offensive and degrading.” (Bloomberg)
  3. Derby’s high court fight as owner Mel Morris and ex-chief exec Sam Rush head for multi-million pound battle – Derby County owner Mel Morris is heading for a bitter, multi-million-pound High Court battle with his former chief executive, Sam Rush. The two are pursuing each other for millions in damages, with part of Morris’s complaint understood to be focused on certain transfer deals completed by the Championship club when Rush was serving as chief executive and president (The Daily Mail)
  4. SNP “discrimination” case to consider whether Scottish independence is a philosophical belief – An employment tribunal pursued by an SNP councillor against the Ministry of Defence is set to focus on whether Scottish independence amounts to a “philosophical” belief (Herald Scotland)
  5. HSE food manufacturing inspections target the causes of workplace ill-health – Companies and people working in food manufacturing are being told they must pay closer attention to how they manage workplace health risks or face serious penalties (HSE)
  6. Grandfather wins unfair dismissal case against employer Andover Trailers – An Andover man who took his employer to court over an unfair dismissal has won the case. Steve Branton, 58, appealed Andover Trailers’ decision to make him redundant back in January, taking the company to an employment tribunal in Southampton (Andover Advertiser)
  7. Gender pay gap: More than 500 firms reveal their figures – Ladbrokes, Easyjet and Virgin Money are among the major companies to reveal gender pay gaps of more than 15% in favour of men for mean hourly pay. Organisations with 250 or more workers must publish their figures by April and so far 527 firms have done so (BBC)
  8. Birmingham restaurant ordered to pay ex-employee more than £2,000 – A Birmingham restaurant company has been ordered to pay an ex-worker more than £2,000 by an employment tribunal. An employment judge ruled that a Miss S Warren had been unfairly dismissed from Fleet Street Kitchen (2) Limited in a breach of contract (The Caterer)
  9. BBC China editor Carrie Gracie quits in gender pay row – The BBC’s China editor Carrie Gracie has resigned from her post, citing pay inequality with male colleagues. In an open letter, Ms Gracie – who has been at the BBC for more than 30 years – accused the corporation of having a “secretive and illegal pay culture” (BBC)
  10. Police chiefs spend £100k fighting ruling to award call centre staff £62k payout – Police chiefs are fighting to block a £62,000 wages payout to call centre staff – more than 12 years after workers discovered they were being underpaid. Call handlers at the Glasgow Govan centre won an employment tribunal over the claim, which relates to nightshift payments (The Daily Record)