Employment law cases in the news – 20.06.2016 to 26.06.2016

In the latest of our series of posts on employment law cases in the news, we take a look at six employment law cases that have made the news between 20 June and 26 June 2016

1. Fish processing firm fined after man killed by falling boxes – A Plymouth company has been fined £500,000 after an employee suffered fatal injuries when a stack of boxes of frozen fish fell on him. Tomas Suchy, 22, an employee of Interfish Limited, was helping to clear up a fallen stack of frozen fish boxes in one of the cold store areas when there was another fall of stock which struck him. He received multiple and severe injuries which proved fatal (HSE)
2. Female police officer who guarded the Duchess of Cambridge wins payout from Scotland Yard bosses over racial discrimination claim – A police officer who guarded the Duchess of Cambridge has won a payout from Scotland Yard bosses over claims she was called a ‘n*****’ by a colleague. PC Ricky Haruna is likely to receive a five-figure sum after the Metropolitan Police confirmed her tribunal case for racial discrimination had been settled ‘by mutual agreement and with no admission of liability’ (The Mail Online)
3. Abuse of migrant domestic workers not race discrimination – In Taiwo v Olaigbe and another case, the Supreme Court has held that while immigration status is a function of nationality, it is not so closely associated with nationality as to be indissociable from it. Accordingly, mistreatment of migrant domestic workers on the ground of their vulnerability due to their precarious immigration status did not amount to discrimination on the ground of nationality (ELAweb)
4. Two senior GMP officers removed from front line roles over claims they lied in race case – Two senior police officers have been removed from front line duties over claims they disclosed ‘false information’ during a racism tribunal. A detective chief inspector and an inspector have been told they are under investigation for ‘gross misconduct’ while they were officers in the internal affairs department of Greater Manchester Police (The Manchester Evening News)
5. Asda fails in bid to halt employment tribunal equal pay case – Asda has failed to block an employment tribunal equal pay claim brought by more than 7000 workers at the supermarket. The group – overwhelmingly women – work in hourly-paid jobs in its retail stores and want the same pay as comparators in the distribution depots, who are overwhelmingly men and paid substantially more (BT news)
6. ‘Dedicated’ mechanic wins more than £70,000 for unfair dismissal – A mechanic who worked for the same firm for almost 50 years has been awarded more than £70,000 after winning his claim for unfair dismissal (Herald Scotland)