Employment tribunal cases in the news – 22.09.2014 to 28.09.2014

redmans-blog-newsIn the latest of our series of posts on employment tribunal cases in the news, we look at ten employment tribunal cases that have made the news between 22 September and 28 September 2014.

  1. North East NHS worker refused maternity leave after surrogate birth – A woman who had her baby using a surrogate mother has lost a European Court of Justice battle to be granted maternity leave. The North East woman was refused paid time off after her baby was born through a surrogacy arrangement – even though she was breastfeeding the newborn child within an hour of its birth (The Chronicle Live)
  2. West London Mental Health boss said whistleblower ‘reminded him of his first wife’, employment tribunal told – A NHS whistleblower raising fears over two patient deaths in a secure unit for female criminals secretly taped the chief executive of Broadmoor Hospital describing her as a “disturbed woman” who reminded him of his first wife, an employment tribunal has heard (Get West London)
  3. Black worker at Brent Council discriminated against because of her race,employment  tribunal finds – A black worker was racially discriminated against by Brent Council, an employment tribunal has found. The authority’s former head of learning and development Rosemary Clarke claimed that she was forced to leave her job because of differences between herself and her line manager Cara Davani (Get West London)
  4. Paralysed ex-soldier from Clifton claims dismissal unfair – A former soldier left paralysed down one side after suffering two strokes claims he was unfairly dismissed from his job managing maintenance at a British military base. Roy Lowe, of Clifton, was sent to work as deputy manager of a base in the Falklands at the end of the war with Argentina, and moved there with his wife and daughter (Nottingham Post)
  5. Sacked prison officer brings unfair dismissal claim to tribunal – A sacked Redditch prison officer who was injured in a car crash has made legal claims for unfair dismissal and disability discrimination against her former employers after complaining not enough was done to help her (Bromsgrove Advertiser)
  6. Former Penarth Leisure Centre employee wins £5,000 in compensation after ‘personal witch hunt’ – A former employee of Penarth Leisure Centre who claimed he was the victim of a “personal witch hunt” has been awarded £5,000 in compensation. Nabeel Rahman, who was represented by his friend and former colleague Scott Roberts in an employment tribunal that first started in February 2013, had two complaints of victimisation upheld and was awarded compensation for injury to feelings of £5,000, as well as interest of £66.92, at an employment tribunal in June this year (Penarth Times)
  7. Council boss named in discrimination claim – One of the most prominent figures on the local government legal scene has been named in an employment tribunal finding that Essex County Council unfairly dismissed an in-house solicitor because of racial discrimination. The tribunal, sitting in Colchester, heard that Philip Thomson, director of Essex Legal Services (ELS) and president of Lawyers in Local Government, made ‘inappropriate references to Hitler’ in the hearing of Evelyne Jarrett, the most senior black manager at Essex Legal Services. Members of staff, including Thomson, were also given ‘inappropriate nicknames’ (The Law Society Gazette)
  8. I had to knee bank boss in the groin to stop him ravishing me in a lift: Two female employees subjected to sexual harassment and bullying by managers and clients, employment tribunal hears – Two female bank employees were subjected to years of sexual harassment and bullying by managers and clients, a tribunal heard. Maria Rayworth and Deena Rosario Al Bazi claim they were subjected to lewd behaviour by customers and were not backed up by bosses at the Arab National Bank in London (The Mail Online)
  9. Treasury ordered to pay £142,000 to ‘whistleblower’ former civil servant – The Treasury has been ordered to pay £142,000 to a former senior civil servant after refusing to carry out a previous tribunal’s ruling that he should be found another job. David Owen, the department’s former head of national insurance policy, was awarded the money this week after the Treasury declined to re-employ him. He was forced to leave his job after accusing colleagues of trying to secretly kill off a proposal by David Gauke, a Treasury minister (The Guardian)
  10. NHS whistleblower accuses health trust bosses of bullying – A NHS whistleblower at England’s biggest mental health trust told an employment tribunal how she was targeted by bosses after raising concerns of a culture of poor practice. Psychologist Dr Hayley Dare allegedly received a threatening letter warning her “you cannot beat us” (BBC)