Employment law stories in the news – 04.06.2015 to 14.06.2015

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 made the headlines between 8 June and 14 June 2015

Nurse who claimed boss kissed her wins tribunal – A nurse at an Inverness care home has been awarded almost £10,000 compensation after an employment tribunal upheld her claim that she was sexually harassed by her boss. Identification of the home, its owner, the nurse and other witnesses was banned by employment judge Reg Christie at the request of both parties (The Press and Journal)
Christian worker wins Employment Tribunal case over homosexual targeting claim – A Christian nursery nurse who was sacked after airing her views on homosexuality and marriage in answer to a question from a homosexual colleague has won a discrimination claim against her former employer (Christian Concern)
Former electrician on industry blacklist offered £60,000 payout – A former electrician on an industry blacklist has been offered £60,000 in compensation, 37 years after his name was written on the secret file. The man, who lives in Scotland and is in his 70s, wants to accept the money, even though his union believes he is entitled to more than £320,000 because of the way his career was affected (The Guardian)
Charity director denies plotting against parents of murdered schoolgirl – A director at a charity for bereaved families has denied trying to oust the parents of murdered schoolgirl Amanda Duffy in order to secure a highly-paid job for her boyfriend. Lesley Carmody told an employment tribunal that she “respected” Joe and Kate Duffy, who founded Petal (People Experiencing Trauma and Loss), and denied allegations she had them removed to help her partner Neil Moore, now chief executive of the charity (Herald Scotland)
Death of young worker leads to court for recycling company – A recycling company in South Devon has been sentenced for serious safety breaches after a worker was killed after likely being thrown from a six-tonne dumper truck (HSE)
Government launches review of employment tribunal fees – The Government has announced its review of employment tribunal fees, which it says will result in recommendations for any changes to fee structure and levels. Since July 2013, workers in the UK have been charged a fee to bring a claim to an employment tribunal, with a further fee if the claim is heard and another charge if they want to appeal the decision (Personnel Today)
Tribunal fees ‘bar women from justice’ – Women are being prevented from challenging sexual discrimination in the workplace by the introduction of costly employment tribunal fees which have led to a collapse in new claims, it has been warned (Herald Scotland)
Employment fee help granted to fewer than one-fifth of claimants – Fewer than one in five applications for employment tribunal fee reductions are successful, according to new government figures. Statistics released yesterday by the Ministry of Justice show fewer than 4,000 of the 21,000 cases in which issue fees were expected were awarded a full or partial remission in 2014/15. In 14,510 cases (69%) the issue fee was paid in full, and in the remaining cases the claim was not taken further (The Law Society Gazette)
Richard Branson grants new fathers at Virgin up to 12 months’ paternity leave on full pay – New fathers will be given up to a year’s paternity leave on full salary as part of a new policy unveiled at Virgin by Richard Branson. The extraordinary offer goes far beyond the new system of shared parental leave recently unveiled by the Government, which allows new parents to divide 50 weeks of leave between them (The Independent)
Dave Sutton from Volksline garage in Canterbury says tribunal will ruin them – The boss of a Canterbury garage which lost an employment tribunal claim following claims it overcharged customers has told how the case exposed him to vandalism and threats of violence (Kent Online)