Employment law cases in the news – 26.06.2017 to 02.07.2017

In 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 26 June and 2 July 2017

  1. Dudley bus driver sacked for running red light wins unfair dismissal claim – Abdul Jabbar, 59, of Dudley, was sacked by National Express West Midlands in October 2015 after CCTV footage captured him running the light in King Street. But he sued, claiming the dismissal was totally over-the-top for one mistake in an unblemished career behind the wheel (Express and Star)
  2. Former BNP member and ‘democratic nationalist’ sees case against college hit setback – Former BNP politician turned art teacher Richard Barnbrook has hit a setback in his legal action against Bournemouth and Poole College. Mr Barnbrook had claimed unfair dismissal and discrimination on the basis of belief after his services as an agency worker were dispensed with by the college in October last year, having been reported in the Daily Echo (The Bournemouth Echo)
  3. Carer sacked for blowing whistle on sub-standard Chester care home was unfairly dismissed – A carer who was sacked when she raised concerns about standards at a Chester care home has won her employment tribunal battle against its owners. Mum-of-three Kaley Sweetman felt she had no choice other than to blow the whistle on Orchard Manor after her comments were ignored by the home’s management in September last year (Chester Standard)
  4. Firm wins remittal of constructive dismissal claim from clerk – The Employment Appeal Tribunal has remitted a case involving a law firm employee who claimed to have been bullied and harassed. The claimant, referred to as Mr Z. Habib, had been a legal accounts clerk at the Southall office of west London firm Asghar & Co Solicitors, when he claimed to have been constructively dismissed in 2014 (The Law Society Gazette)
  5. Cyclists delivering emergency blood to NHS gain employment rights – Couriers carrying emergency blood supplies and delivering passports have won improved employment rights in an important concession for workers in the gig economy (The Guardian)
  6. Daughter of MLA says she was discriminated against after missing out on ‘promised’ job – The daughter of East Londonderry MLA John Dallat is suing his former party colleague for alleged discrimination after she failed to clinch a job in the SDLP constituency office which she had been “promised” (The Belfast Telegraph)
  7. West Yorkshire undercover police officers win damages totalling almost £100,000 – Two former undercover detectives with West Yorkshire Police have won damages approaching £100,000 after they were penalised for whistleblowing. Both officers, one of whom had almost 20 years’ experience, were moved to civilian desk jobs shortly after lodging complaints about management (The Huddersfield Daily Examiner)
  8. Nigel Farage intervened in Welsh UKIP spat, tribunal hears – Nigel Farage told a UKIP MEP not to stand down during an internal party row in Wales, an employment tribunal heard. Nathan Gill faced pressure to give up his seat in Brussels over accusations of “double-jobbing” after being elected to the assembly last May (BBC)
  9. Million pound fine for steel company after worker severely burnt following explosion – A 57-year-old man’s employer has been fined £1m after an oxygen pipe exploded in front of him. The Sheffield Forgemasters Engineering Limited (SFEL) worker suffered life changing injuries after the explosion on 9 August 2013 (HSE)
  10. Brighton hospital bosses unfairly sacked black consultant – Brighton hospital bosses unfairly sacked a black consultant having made it impossible for him to return to work, an employment appeal tribunal judge said yesterday (Brighton and Hove News)