Employment law stories in the news – 04.02.2019 to 10.02.2019

In the latest in our series of posts on employment law stories in the news, we take a look at ten employment law stories that made headlines between 4 February 2019 and 10 February 2019

  1. SRA aims to stop firms victimising whistleblowers – Lawyers who come forward with information about suspected misconduct in their firm should be protected from repercussions, the SRA said today (Law Society Gazette)
  2. Hermes to offer gig economy drivers better rights under union deal – The courier company Hermes is to offer drivers guaranteed minimum wages and holiday pay in the first UK deal to provide trade union recognition for gig economy workers (The Guardian)
  3. Steep decline in race discrimination tribunal awards – The average compensation awarded in workplace race discrimination cases fell by 14% over the past year, but the number of discrimination cases rose (Personnel Today)
  4. Manager was victimised by employer following #MeToo tweet, tribunal rules – A manager whose #MeToo tweet went viral was victimised by her employer after she gave an interview to a major newspaper, the London Central Employment Tribunal has ruled (People Management)
  5. RBC ordered to pay £1.2m to London whistleblower – Royal Bank of Canada has been ordered to pay more than £1m in compensation to a former employee who lost his job after blowing the whistle on compliance failings at the Toronto-based bank’s London operation (FN London)
  6. Whistleblower says she was told to torch undercover police files – Reports that senior officers ordered the destruction of files relating to covert operations have prompted renewed calls for an inquiry into undercover policing in Scotland (The Times)
  7. Sacked 88-year-old hospital secretary becomes oldest person ever to win age discrimination case – An 88-year-old hospital secretary has become the oldest person ever to win an age discrimination case after she was marched out her office and later dismissed over “frality” claims (The Telegraph)
  8. Banker’s £400k sexism claim against ‘gentlemen’s club’ Coutts rejected – A woman financier has lost her £400,000 sexism claim against the Queen’s bank Coutts after telling a ­tribunal she deserved to be paid more than her bosses (The Evening Standard)
  9. Former Goldman analyst sues bank for ADHD discrimination – A former Goldman Sachs analyst is suing the bank for discriminating against him for having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. He says this has cost him an £11.4m career in banking and hedge funds (FN London)
  10. Magic circle firm wins gagging order over ‘struggle with women in workplace’ – Magic circle firm Linklaters has secured an order barring its former director of business development from giving interviews about what was described in court as an ‘ongoing struggle with women in the workplace’ (Law Society Gazette)