Employment law stories in the news – 22.12.2014 to 28.12.2014

redmans-blog-newsIn 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 the news between 22 December and 28 December 2014

  1. Worker sues Downham Market firm for £200,000 compensation over accident injuries – A welder who was badly injured when he was hit by a falling metal frame while working for a Downham firm has taken legal action for up to £200,000 in compensation (Lynne News)
  2. Directors fined after young worker crushed by dumper – A 20-year-old man died on his first day at work for a new company when the four-tonne dumper he was driving toppled over a bank and crushed him (HSE)
  3. Boiler insurance firm fined £90,000 for harassing elderly victims with nuisance calls – The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined a company based in Croydon £90,000 for continually making nuisance calls harassing vulnerable individuals. In several cases, the calls resulted in older people paying for boiler insurance it appeared they didn’t need (ICO)
  4. 21-stone man wins job High Court case – A British man won a landmark case against the company that dismissed him, after a High Court judge ruled the effects of obesity can be classed as a disability. John Walker, 49, weighed more than 21 stone when he lost his job as an IT manager. He was sacked after spending seven years off work with a plethora of ailments including asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure, chronic fatigue and knee problems (The Sunday Times)
  5. Workers facing redundancy after City Link goes in administration on Christmas Eve – Staff at a Trafford depot of one of the country’s biggest parcel delivery groups are facing redundancies after the firm went into administration on Christmas Eve. City Link, which has nearly 3,000 workers across the country including those at its base in Trafford Park, called in administrators after years of ‘substantial losses’ (The Manchester Evening News)
  6. Northamptonshire firms fined for asbestos failings – Two Northamptonshire firms have been fined after a routine safety inspection revealed serious asbestos-related failings. Northampton Magistrates’ Court heard today (22 Dec) that Lifting Systems Ltd had contracted Durasteel Services Ltd to refurbish an asbestos cement roof at its Crown Works in Far Cotton (HSE)
  7. Former Hospice kitchen worker has bullying claims thrown out – A former kitchen worker who alleged that she was bullied at a hospice because of her sexuality has had her claims thrown out. Llinos Hughes, who worked at St David’s Hospice in Llandudno from 2011, told an employment tribunal in Wrexham in October that Gary Anderson, who became head chef in December of that year, bullied and discriminated against her because she was gay (North Wales Pioneer)
  8. Union drops case for costs against pro-Israel academic – The University and College Union has dropped its costs application against an academic who lost a high-profile harassment case against it. Academic Ronnie Fraser took the union to an employment tribunal in a landmark case but the tribunal concluded last April his claim that, as a Jew, he suffered harassment as a result of the union’s activities, were “manifestly unmeritorious” (Jewish News)
  9. Devon and Cornwall Police pay out £940,000 compensation – Devon and Cornwall Police paid out almost £940,000 in compensation from 2010 to 2013, it has emerged. The force paid out nearly £847,000 to the public, including £75,000 for assault by an officer (BBC)
  10. Former dockyard worker secures five-figure payout from MOD over asbestos exposure – A former dockyard worker, who contracted a disabling lung disease after being exposed to asbestos, has secured compensation from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) (The Plymouth Herald)