Employment law cases in the news – 22.08.2016 to 28.08.2016

redmans-blog-newsIn the latest of our series of posts on employment law cases in the news, we take a look at seven employment law cases that have made the news between 22 August and 28 August 2016

  1. Refusing female train driver’s flexible working requests was sex discrimination – A recent case, XC Trains v CD, is a useful reminder to employers of the need to consider the potentially discriminatory impact of refusing flexible working requests. The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) hearing the case had to decide whether it was sex discrimination for a company to require a female train driver with childcare responsibilities to work 50 per cent of rosters and Saturdays (CIPD)
  2. Met Police to pay damages over holidaying officer probe – A former Met Police officer who sued the force for wrongly using its powers to investigate her has won a case over a breach of human rights and misuse of private information. Ex-Detective Constable Andrea Brown was probed after going on holiday with her daughter while on sick leave (BBC)
  3. Worker claims racial discrimination led to his ext from Union post – The head of Scotland’s Trade Union Congress (STUC) has denied racially discriminating against a worker and threatening him with the sack when he raised a tribunal against the body (Herald Scotland)
  4. UBS hedge fund whistleblower claims unfair dismissal – A former investment manager at UBS’s hedge fund business O’Connor is claiming unfair dismissal and saying he was unfairly treated by the Swiss bank for whistleblowing. Meraj Sepehrnia’s claim against UBS is due to be heard at a London employment tribunal on September 6, according to court details released on Wednesday (Reuters)
  5. Woman sacked for appearing in porn gets payout from NHS – A woman who appeared in a series of porn films has been has been given a payout by her former bosses at the NHS. Kathleen Molloy, who uses the name Dylan Devere, was found to have been unfairly dismissed after her alternative line of work was discovered (Metro)
  6. Roofing firms fined after worker fell to his death – Two roofing companies and one of their directors have been fined after a worker fell to his death through a skylight. Cardiff Crown Court heard how 46 year old Lance Davies, a father of seven, died after falling over seven metres through a roof light at industrial premises in the Crumlin area of South Wales (HSE)
  7. Portadown FC say they will appeal against employment tribunal McMahon wages order – Portadown FC say they will appeal against an employment tribunal decision to order the club to pay £7,000 in unpaid wages to player Peter McMahon. The club said their representative was unable to attend Thursday’s tribunal because of a “long standing engagement” and had requested a postponement (BBC)