Employment law stories in the news – 08.01.2018 to 14.01.2018

In the latest of our series of posts on employment law stories in the news, we take a look at ten employment law-related stories that have made headlines between 8 January and 14 January 2018

HR team “unfit for purpose” says daming tribunal verdict – “Dictatorial” board members who headed up the HR team at the Royal British Legion were “not fit for purpose” an employment tribunal has heard. And nearly all HR staff in the team have left because of the negative culture pervading the team (Third Force News)
Glasgow City Council to make decision on equal pay appeal within days – Glasgow City Council will decide within days whether to take an appeal on the equal pay ruling to the Supreme Court. Council officials have presented three options to the City Administration Committee of the council (Evening Times)
Barclays ‘sacrificed trader’ to end rigging investigation – Barclays offered up one of its traders as a “fall guy” to end a regulatory investigation, according to a former senior executive at the bank. David Fotheringhame, the bank’s former head of automated flow trading for electronic fixed income, was dismissed after a $150 million settlement between Barclays and the New York banking watchdog (The Times)
Trading floor intern blames mobile phones for sexual harassment – Last week, a trading floor intern lost her lawsuit alleging she was sexually harassed while she was an intern at Credit Agricole. The former analyst had argued that the environment on Credit Agricole’s London trading floor was male-dominated, that her boss conducted, “open conversations about drugs and prostitutes” and that she was subjected to a workplace in which pornography and “animal noises” were the norm (Efinancialcareers)
BBC row may have contributed to spike in equal pay claims at employment tribunal – High profile equal pay claims like the one involving BBC presenters may have contributed to a spike in such cases since last summer’s Supreme Court ruling on employment tribunal fees, according to a leading provider of legal services and advice to businesses (Legal Futures)
Man sacked for attending gin festival while off sick with stress – A Dundee man was sacked while on sick leave following the murder of one of his friends and the disappearance of a close friend’s son when his bosses found out he had gone to a gin festival (The Courier)
AA ‘astonished’ as former boss seeks tribunal after hotel brawl sacking – The former boss of the Automobile Association, who was ousted for assaulting a colleague, is challenging his sacking in an employment tribunal. Bob Mackenzie was dismissed as executive chairman last July after he attacked a fellow AA executive in a hotel bar, which was captured on CCTV. He is understood to have lodged a claim alleging his sacking was mishandled and contravened company procedures (The Telegraph)
Man called ‘fat ginger pikey’ loses discrimination appeal – A salesman with a top US tech company who had a Traveller background has lost a claim for racial discrimination despite being called a “a fat ginger pikey” by his boss. David Evans, 34, complained that he was also referred to as a “jellied eel salesman” and “Gimli” the fictional dwarf from Lord of the The Rings by managers at software firm Xactly (The Times)
Civil engineering company fined after death of employee – A civil engineering company has been sentenced for safety breaches after father of three Darren Richardson suffered fatal crush injuries. Sheffield Crown Court heard in December 2014 RMB Contractors Ltd were working on laying a new concrete slab at Ballast Phoenix Ltd, Claywheels Lane, Sheffield (HSE)
Sacked senior Intel sales head accuses IoT chief of perjury – A sacked former Intel senior sales head has accused the company’s global IoT partner director of perjury – and was told to “not put the spin on” by the judge. Mary Guiney, a former Intel saleswoman assigned to its EMEA Internet of Things business, is suing Chipzilla for £100,000 in what she says is unpaid commission (The Register)