Employment law cases in the news – 05.10.2015 to 11.10.2015

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 made headlines between 5 October and 11 October 2015

  1. Lloyds agrees settlement with ex-trader claiming unfair dismissal – Lloyds Banking Group has reached an out-of-court settlement with a former trader who was claiming he was unfairly dismissed after the bank fired him following an investigation into alleged manipulation of Libor interest rates. The central London employment tribunal that was due to hear the case on Monday said John Argent had withdrawn his claim after the issue was settled out of court. It said it had no further details (Reuters)
  2. NHS worker wins right to appeal lost tribunal, over disciplinary for giving Christian book to colleague – A judge has ordered an employment tribunal to reconsider the case of a Christian woman who was disciplined for giving a Christian book to a Muslim colleague. Victoria Wasteney, a senior occupational therapist, had worked for East London NHS Foundation Trust for eight years before she ran into trouble after being accused of “harassing and bullying” her co-worker by giving her a book about a Muslim woman’s encounter with Christianity (Premier)
  3. Gay couple lose court fight for equal pension rights – A gay man has lost a legal bid for his husband to be recognised with the same pension rights as a wife would have in a heterosexual relationship. John Walker, 62, retired in 2003 before gay civil partnerships were introduced in the UK in 2005 (BBC)
  4. IT firm Wipro accused of breeding culture of ‘predatory’ sexism – Male workers at the London office of one of the world’s largest IT companies branded women colleagues “lesbians”, visited strip clubs and were encouraged to have affairs, an employment tribunal heard on Tuesday. Shreya Ukil, 39, alleges she was subjected to a “deeply predatory, misogynistic culture” at Wipro, an India-based firm with more than 160,000 employees worldwide (The Telegraph)
  5. Part-time judge fails in appeal for pension entitlement to be backdated – A part-time judge who claimed that his pension should be calculated on the basis of his sitting days since he was appointed rather than the date on which an EU law protecting part-time-time workers from being treated less favourably than equivalent full-time workers came into force in the UK has had an appeal refused (Scottish Legal)
  6. GMP faces fresh racism allegations from black officer who won landmark discrimination case – Greater Manchester Police is facing more allegations of racism from a black officer who won a landmark discrimination case. Detective Constable Paul Bailey says the force launched an unfounded ‘leak’ probe against him during the middle of an employment tribunal that he went on to win (The Manchester Evening News)
  7. Guvera hit by £10 million lawsuit from ex-Blinkbox UK employees – Nearly 100 ex-employees of the music streaming service Blinkbox, formerly owned by Tesco, have issued a class action lawsuit for an estimated £10 million against Guvera Ltd and two of its UK-based subsidiaries. The Guvera group purchased the Blinkbox music service from Tesco in January 2015 (The Music Business Worldwide)
  8. Right to be accompanied: veto on trade union representative was unlawful – An employer’s veto on a trade union representative accompanying its employees to disciplinary or grievance hearings led to breaches of the right to be accompanied, an employment tribunal has found (Xpert HR)
  9. Blacklisted construction workers move closer to huge damages payout – More than 600 construction workers whose names appeared on an an industry-wide blacklist have moved closer to securing damages which could total tens of millions of pounds. Solicitors representing eight leading construction firms have submitted an “unprecedented” apology to the high court for anxiety and distress caused to the workers, unions said on Thursday (The Guardian)
  10. M&S worker who ‘contracted HIV after being raped by a colleague at a work party’ demands £174,000 payout after she claimed that her boss revealed her condition – A former Marks and Spencer employee who claims she contracted HIV after being raped by a colleague is claiming £174,000 in compensation after winning an employment tribunal. Charmaine Wakelin, 44, was told she was HIV positive in November 2008, four months after she was allegedly drugged and attacked by a co-worker at a party with colleagues (The Daily Mail)