Employment law cases in the news – 29.06.2015 to 05.07.2015

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 29 June and 5 July 2015

  1. Window firm fined for safety failings – The unsatisfactory approach to workers’ safety shown by a north east London firm led to a young employee having a thumb and three fingers severed, a court has heard. Walthamstow-based Maple Windows Co Ltd failed to ensure employees were using a powered saw in the right way. It also failed to properly supervise them (HSE)
  2. Consultant at the Royal Sussex County Hospital fired after ‘racist’ comments – A senior doctor has been sacked by an NHS trust for making allegedly racist comments about doctors on his team. Peter Hale was dismissed from his post as a consultant surgeon at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton for gross misconduct after making allegedly discriminatory comments during a staff meeting (The Argus)
  3. Firm fined after a man fell through fragile roof onto concrete – A construction company was fined after a worker fell through a roof three metres onto a concrete floor below. On Friday 3 July, Reading Magistrates’ Court heard how Barski Developments Limited had been contracted to refurbish a number of industrial units at Slough Business Park in the autumn of 2013 (HSE)
  4. Newbury Town Council chief says he was “bullied and intimidated” – Graham Hunt tells employment tribunal that “witch hunt” forced him to resign. The former chief executive of Newbury Town Council resigned because he felt the organisation didn’t do enough to help protect him from being “bullied and intimidated”, he told an employment tribunal in Reading last week (Newbury Today)
  5. Chef who bit two police officers wins £11k for unfair dismissal after being sacked – A head chef convicted of assault for biting police officers and spitting their blood at others has been awarded £11,000 for unfair dismissal. Hotel bosses have to pay James Harvey after a tribunal ruled they failed to follow procedure for dismissal after he was given 18 months in jail for the violent rampage (The Express)
  6. Former Calderstones boss wins tribunal after ‘unlawful victimisation’ – A judge has ruled an East Lancashire NHS trust was guilty of unfair dismissal when it summarily sacked its chief executive without right of appeal. An employment tribunal found that the Calderstones Partnership NHS Trust failed to follow any proper procedures and was guilty of the ‘unlawful victimisation’ of Karen Wilson (The Citizen)
  7. Demolition firm fined after worker lost his life – Building contractor, Euro Dismantling Solutions Limited was fined for safety failings after a man lost his life during demolition works. Bristol Crown Court heard how demolition work was taking place at former Cadburys Somerdale factory, near Bristol on 9 November 2011 when 31-year-old James Stacey drove a mini digger out of a fourth floor opening (HSE)
  8. Council laid off six workers in sham redundancy to get rid of one employee – A council laid off six labourers before offering five of them new contracts in a bid to get rid of one of the employees. Dundee City Council’s environment department made the workers redundant because of what bosses called a “downturn in current workload” (Scottish Construction Now)
  9. Director of education wins claim against former owner of St Patrick’s College for unfair dismissal – The former director of education at St Patrick’s College has won a claim for unfair dismissal after he was sacked by the institution, the biggest private college in England and now part of a group that recently bought the University of Law. Raj Kumaran was sacked from St Patrick’s in September 2014 on a charge of gross misconduct (The Times Higher Education Supplement)
  10. Commerzbank sued by former director over allegations of “boys club” environment within FX hedge fund division – An employment tribunal in London yesterday heard that Jenus Fiouzi, who served as Director of FX and Rates Institutional Sales at Commerzbank from April 2013 alleges that she was discriminated against and left out of conversations, whilst Commerzbank states that she was fired for not meeting targets (Leaprate)