Employment law stories in the news – 09.11.2015 to 15.11.2015

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 9 November and 15 November 2015

  1. Steel worker left scarred for life – International steel giant Tata has been fined £180,000 after pleading guilty to safety breaches after an employee narrowly escaped death when he was showered in scalding molten metal in a massive explosion at its Rotherham plant (HSE)
  2. Employment tribunal fees ‘may put off claimants’ – The father of three sisters who brought employment claims against an award-winning chef has said tribunal fees could put people off filing a dispute (BBC)
  3. Hartlepool lecturer wins ‘substantial payout’ over treatment at college – A Hartlepool college lecturer unfairly dismissed from her job has received a “substantial” undisclosed payout. Sue Houchen, former head of law at Hartlepool Sixth Form College, resigned last year after taking sick leave due to work-related stress and depression (Hartlepool Mail)
  4. CJEU: workers’ refusal to accept significant detrimental contract change can be ‘redundancy’ – An employee who refused to accept a 25% pay cut imposed by her employer could be classed as being dismissed for “redundancy” for the purpose of EU rules governing the conduct of collective redundancy exercises, the EU’s highest court has ruled (Out-Law)
  5. Chelsea’s Eden Hazard ‘could be called as Eva Carneiro’s star witness’ in employment tribunal – Chelsea’s Eden Hazard could be called as Eva Carneiro’s star witness in her constructive dismissal claim against the club, according to reports. The Blues winger was being treated by Carneiro and head physio Jon Fearn during the 2-2 draw with Swansea in August – an incident that led to Jose Mourinho expressing his public fury with his medical staff, who he believed shouldn’t have run onto the pitch (The Mirror)
  6. Bank worker licked and punched colleague on night out in Chester – A bank worker who licked and punched a colleague in the face during a corporate event was fairly sacked, a top judge has ruled. Mark Jones assaulted Andrew Battersby, a colleague at MBNA Ltd, during an outing to Chester Racecourse in November 2013 (The Leader)
  7. Top Gear producer to sue Clarkson – The Irish Top Gear producer punched by Jeremy Clarkson is suing the presenter and the BBC for racial discrimination. Lawyers for Clarkson and the BBC attended a closed-door hearing with Oisin Tymon’s legal team at a London employment tribunal on Friday (BBC)
  8. Former City Link directors not guilty of failing to notify Business Secretary of redundancies – Three former directors at Coventry based delivery firm City Link have been found not guilty of failing to let the government know about redundancies last Christmas. It was alleged former Finance Director Robert Peto, Managing Director David Smith and Non Executive Director Thomas Wright failed to provide 45 days notice of dismissal for staff, when the company was placed into administration on Christmas Eve 2014 (ITV)
  9. Worker killed by falling power press – A Wrexham firm was fined after a worker was killed when a machine weighing an estimated half a tonne fell on him. Chester Crown Court heard Christopher Williams, a maintenance supervisor at Morgan Technical Ceramics Limited, was moving a power press that was stored in a shipping container in the yard behind the factory (HSE)
  10. Ucatt claims umbrella company tribunal victory – Construction union Ucatt is claiming what it calls ‘a highly significant victory’ against an umbrella company that was ruled to have deducted wages of a client unlawfully (The Construction Index)