Employment law cases in the news – 01.02.2016 to 07.02.2016

redmans-blog-newsIn the latest of our series of posts on employment law cases in the news, we examine ten employment law cases that have made headlines between 1 February 2016 and 7 February 2016

  1. Nurse sacked over inhaler wins bid to have new tribunal hearing – A nurse sacked over the use of a hospital inhaler for suspected asthma has won the right to have her unfair dismissal claim reassessed. Senior judges have set aside an industrial tribunal’s decision to dismiss Caroline Connolly’s case against the Western Health and Social Care Trust, and ordered a fresh hearing of her grievance (The Belfast Telegraph)
  2. Nurse dubbed a bigot and compared to Hitler wins compensation – A nurse dubbed ‘a bigot’ and compared to Hitler by colleagues has won the right to compensation after NHS bosses made only ‘limp and ineffectual’ efforts to protect him. Edward Bone, known as Eddie, was greeted with the words ‘hello Adolf’ by a fellow worker and became the focus of suspicions of ‘creeping crypto fascism’ while working at the North East Essex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (The Clacton and Frinton Gazette)
  3. Former Feilden & Mawson partner sues for discrimination – Documents filed at employment tribunal by Elsie Owusu says practice had “culture of bullying” RIBA Council member Elsie Owusu has begun an unfair dismissal claim against former employer Feilden & Mawson at a London employment tribunal (BDonline)
  4. Lawyer claims married Tory MP told her: ‘Your legs turn me on… I want to marry you’ – A married Tory MP  told a colleague he was turned on by her legs and wanted to marry her, a tribunal heard yesterday. Solicitor Patronia Campbell claims the dad of three had a one-night stand with her after a boozy works night out (The Sun)
  5. Camden headteacher defends sacking of disabled teaching assistant at employment tribunal – A headteacher has defended the sacking of a former teaching assistant with multiple sclerosis (MS), who claims she was discriminated against because of her disability (Ham & High)
  6. Dismissed NHS whistleblower who exposed safety concerns handed £1.22m – An NHS whistleblower who was unfairly sacked after exposing concerns about patient safety has been awarded £1.22m in damages by a hospital trust. Cardiologist Raj Mattu claimed he had been vilified and bullied and subjected to a 12-year “witch-hunt” after making the claims at Walsgrave hospital in Coventry in 2001 (The Guardian)
  7. Tribunal finds Parkanaur carer ‘unfairly dismissed’ – An industrial tribunal has upheld a claim from a former support worker at Parkanaur College that she was unfairly dismissed from her role. The tribunal was asked to consider whether the woman had been constructively dismissed when she resigned in December 2014 following two incidents of assault on her by a resident and following an unsuccessful outcome to her grievance in respect of the assaults (The Tyrone Times)
  8. Parish council to face clerk tribunal – Heckington Parish Council is facing an employment tribunal after the resignation of its clerk, Angela Edwards. Chairman Jan Palmer explained at last Monday’s meeting they had had to add £4,000 to their budget for next year to cover legal fees and a potential claim (The Sleaford Standard)
  9. Series of incidents of verbal abuse of colleagues culminates in fair dismissal – This first-instance tribunal decision shows that a series of incidents in which an employee is warned for verbally abusing colleagues can combine to lead to a fair dismissal, even if taken individually the incidents do not justify dismissal (XpertHR)
  10. Shropshire whistleblower dentist tells job tribunal of ‘witch hunt’ – A consultant dentist complained he became the victim of a witch hunt after making whistleblowing allegations about waiting list breaches for patients at a hospital (The Shropshire Star)