Employment law cases in the news – 03.11.2014 to 09.11.2014

redmans-blog-newsIn the latest of our series of posts on employment law cases in the news, we take a look at ten employment law cases that have made the news between 3 November and 9 November 2014.

  1. Experienced black teacher who was overlooked for head of maths job in favour of newly qualified white candidate wins race discrimination claim against academy school – An experienced maths teacher has won her claim for racial discrimination – after the job she wanted went to a newly-qualified candidate. Perena Polius-Curran, 42, of Eaton Socon, Cambridgeshire – who is of Black Caribbean origin – took Basildon Academies in Pitsea, Essex, to an employment tribunal (The Daily Mail)
  2. Employer sentenced after elderly worker crushed to death – A Kilmarnock employer has been fined for safety failings after a worker was crushed to death when a heavy gate came off its hinges and fell onto him. Malcolm Macdonald Kennedy, 69, of Riccarton, Kilmarnock, a retired fitter, had been working on a casual basis for Alistair Thomas Corrie, who trades as A Corrie Skip Hire, for around eight years when the incident happened on 12 December 2011 (HSE)
  3. Haulage worker at Blackburn firm wins scrap metal sacking fight – A haulage worker has won his fight against a Blackburn firm after being sacked for selling off scrap metal and splitting the proceeds with colleagues. Norman Kingston was dismissed from Kenyon Road Haulage, based in Thornley Avenue, after an investigation and disciplinary hearing into the scrap metal sales (The Lancashire Telegraph)
  4. Aberdeen oil worker awarded £30,000 for unfair sacking – An oil worker has been awarded more than £30,000 for being unfairly sacked from his firm of 25 years. David Williamson, of Aberdeen, was fire from Scotoil Services for allegedly harassing agency staff (The Evening Express)
  5. Vice-principal of ‘Muslim Eton’ told she’d ‘go to hell’ for opposing compulsory veil rules – A college vice principal was warned she would ‘go to hell’ after she opposed rules telling all pupils to wear veils during lessons at an Islamic ‘Eton for girls’ school, a tribunal heard. Ghazala Khan was branded a ‘stupid outsider’ by her boss who said if he wanted to employ her as a ‘cleaner or tea lady’ it was said (The Mirror)
  6. Glazebury cancer specialist claims he was ‘unfairly’ hounded out of post – A leading child cancer specialist who lives in Warrington claims he was unfairly forced out of his post at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital. Prof Eddy Estlin, a paediatric oncologist at the Oxford Road hospital, spoke out amid concerns over consultant cover, especially at night, and the approach taken by specialists in his department, an employment tribunal heard (The Warrington Guardian)
  7. Oxford bursar sacked by former BBC controller after she ‘tried to remove dyslexic colleague – An Oxford University bursar was sacked by a former BBC controller after she tried to remove a colleague with dyslexia, a tribunal has heard. Jean Wright allegedly made “spurious allegations” against Roger Hall, whom she worked with at St Peter’s College, claiming he was “no good” and had failed to address his problems with dyslexia (The Telegraph)
  8. Overtime should count in holiday pay – Workers have won a ground-breaking case at the Employment Appeal Tribunal to include overtime in holiday pay. This means some people working overtime could claim for additional holiday pay. Currently, only basic pay counts when calculating holiday pay (BBC)
  9. Father wins sex discrimination case after request to work part-time rejected – A man who asked to work part-time so he could look after his daughter has won a sex discrimination case after his request was rejected. Erik Pietzka, 38, was a manager at the Cardiff offices of accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) when his marriage broke down and his wife moved to Bury St Edmunds with his daughter, then two years old (The Telegraph)
  10. Broker’s compensation claim over Asian colleagues branded ‘terrorists’ – A manager at a worldwide brokerage company is claiming £1.5m in compensation after witnessing Asian colleagues being branded “terrorist,” “brown boy” and “dog” by his boss, a tribunal heard (The Telegraph)