Employment law cases in the news – 06.04.2015 to 12.04.2015

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 headlines between 6 April and 12 April 2015

  1. Herefordshire factory worker wins discrimination claim against employers – A factory worker has won a discrimination claim against her employers. Tetyana Kyryk took Polytec Car Styling Bromyard to an employment tribunal after complaining the firm discriminated against her while she was expecting her first child (The Hereford Times)
  2. Black police officer wins race discrimination case against force that wouldn’t promote him because of his colour – A black police constable has won a race discrimination case against his force after they did not promote him due to the colour of his skin. Ronnie Lungu was singled out as ‘a marked man’ by Wiltshire Police solely due to his race, the employment tribunal ruled (The Daily Mail)
  3. £56k for sack in parking row – A former council boss who was sacked over a £700,000 contract blunder with a parking firm has been awarded £56,000 by an employment tribunal. Cliff Harrison was Worthing Borough Council’s head of technical services when the authority was taken to court by NCP for ending its decade-long parking agreement with the company (The Argus)
  4. Former workers at Sport Direct’s USC head to tribunal over chain’s collapse – Former staff at Sport Direct’s fashion chain USC are taking the administrators who oversaw its collapse to an employment tribunal. Lawyers for around 50 ex-workers at the USC Dundonald warehouse will argue that Sports Direct and joint administrators Duff & Phelps and Gallaghers should have consulted with staff at least 30 days prior to the closure (The London Evening Standard)
  5. MG Rover workers axed in carmaker’s collapse could get VAT claim payout – Former MG Rover workers could be in line for a payout, 10 years since the carmaker’s collapse, after administrators said they were trying to recover £56m in overpaid VAT (The Guardian)
  6. Mayor was sacked for attending civic event after telling bosses he was going to a funeral  – Hartlepool Mayor Stephen Akers-Belcher was sacked from his day job after he was given paid leave to attend a funeral – but instead went to a function in his civic role, it has been revealed (The Hartlepool Mail)
  7. East Lothian Council worker’s hunger strike threat – A sacked council worker has threatened to starve herself to death in protest at a legal bill she says would force her family out of their home. Theresa Sives has been starving herself for 11 days and lost a stone after her former employers at East Lothian Council decided to go to court to seize £200,000 (The Scotsman)
  8. Whipps Cross hospital trade union activist reinstated – Workers at Whipps Cross hospital and campaigners in east London are celebrating the victory of Unison health activist Charlotte Monro at an employment tribunal hearing last week. This will see her reinstated in her job following her sacking for trade union activity in October 2013 (The Socialist)
  9. Banker Svetlana Lokhova wins £3.1m payout over colleagues’ drug lies and bullying after ‘crazy Miss Cokehead’ nickname – A woman banker in the London office of a Russian bank has been awarded £3.1 million after being driven to mental collapse by a campaign of harassment and unfounded drug slurs. An employment tribunal found that Cambridge graduate Svetlana Lokhova had been a victim of harassment, victimisation and discrimination amounting to constructive dismissal (The London Evening Standard)
  10. Black teacher sacked over marking errors loses racial bias claim – A member of staff at a school near Coleshill believes he was recently dismissed because he was black. Head of Faculty at Grace Academy Solihull, Mr Delroy Hutchinson, was sacked along with another teacher for putting students’ futures at risk following staffing errors, it was alleged (The Tamworth Herald)