Employment law cases in the news – 14.09.2015 to 20.09.2015

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 14 September 2015 and 20 September 2015

  1. Muller manager made Auschwitz remark, claims driver – Mrs Toni Davenport also alleged the same person told her “to keep her head down and her mouth shut”. The allegations were made against Muller UK & Ireland Group LLP by Mrs Davenport as she made legal claims involving pay, overtime and holidays at Birmingham Employment Tribunal (The Shropshire Star)
  2. Ex-striker loses Featherstone Prison dismissal appeal – Former footballer Vernon ‘Big Vern’ Allatt was not unfairly dismissed from his prison officer job at HMP Featherstone, an employment tribunal has ruled. The ex-Preston North End and Hednesford Town striker was sacked amid claims he lost control during an altercation with a ‘challenging’ prisoner who refused to return to his cell, pulling out his baton, swinging it at the inmate five times and striking him twice (The Express and Star)
  3. Tribunal rules Camden Town restaurant must pay compensation to waitress discriminated against for maternity leave – A waitress has been awarded more than £5,000 in compensation after an employment tribunal ruled that a Camden Town restaurant discriminated against her because she had taken maternity leave (The Camden New Journal)
  4. Bank of America Dragged Into Currency Exchange Lawsuits as U.K. Trader Sues – Bank of America Corp.’s Merrill Lynch was the latest bank to be dragged into a rash of foreign-exchange-related unfair dismissal lawsuits after a former trader sued the lender. Daniel Stalker, a director on the foreign exchange trading desk in London, filed a case for unfair dismissal, claiming he was fired for whistle-blowing. A closed-door mediation hearing took place at central London employment tribunal Friday (Bloomberg)
  5. Harrod’s guard ‘subjected to witch hunt after halting PA who was carrying exec’s coffee across shop’ – A Harrod’s security guard was subjected to a “witch hunt” after a row with a boss at the department store over a cup of coffee, an employment tribunal heard. John Perrett claims he was only following health and safety rules when he stopped merchandise manager Caroline Lyons and PA Chloe Marsh, carrying coffee through the department store (The Evening Standard)
  6. Former trader claims Lloyds made him redundant over whistleblowing – A former foreign exchange trader at Lloyds Banking Group has accused the bank of making him redundant because he was a whistleblower after he raised concerns about the unit, including about a currency trade for supermarket Tesco (The Guardian)
  7. College principal “informed of suspension in corridor” – A Scottish college principal was told about her impending suspension in a corridor within earshot of other staff, according to an official report. The claim is included in an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the suspension of Susan Walsh, the principal of Clyde College, in Glasgow, in February this year (Herald Scotland)
  8. Barclays banker in Qatar deal sues over pay – A senior Barclays investment banker, who sources say is one of four people being investigated by Britain’s financial watchdog over a 2008 fundraising involving Middle East investors, is suing the bank in a dispute about pay (Reuters)
  9. NHS trust denies bullying and intimidation of IT whistleblower – Managers were already aware of whistleblower’s concerns about the accuracy of NHS Southwark’s data, tribunal hears. A health trust has denied bullying and intimidation of a former nurse who blew the whistle on serious IT problems which put patient care at risk (Computer Weekly)
  10. City bankers made ‘bids’ for women and labelled those less attractive as ‘offers only’, according to woman trader at centre of £3.5m discrimination row – City bankers made ‘bids’ for women and labelled those deemed less attractive as ‘offers only’, according to a female trader claiming £3.5million for sex discrimination. Dalal Belghiti, 36, said women were treated as ‘mere sex objects’ at investment bank Jefferies International Ltd in London, where she was senior vice president of the International Credit team (Daily Mail)