Employment law cases in the news – 28.09.2015 to 04.10.2015

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-related cases that have made the news between 28 September and 4 October 2015

  1. Fired RBS Trader Colluded With `Cartel,’ Bank Colleague Alleges – A Royal Bank of Scotland Plc trader fired amid the currency-rigging scandal plotted with members of the notorious ‘Cartel’ chat group and shared secret client orders with contacts at rival banks, a senior colleague told a London employment tribunal (Bloomberg)
  2. London Underground’s most senior female Asian manager is given £41,000 compensation after campaign of bullying by an RMT union boss that saw her demoted – London Underground’s most senior Asian female manager has won £41,000 compensation after she was demoted after being falsely accused of bullying by RMT union boss. Noordan Jaumdally, 46, became one of only 16 female ‘Centurion’ managers when she was promoted in 2010 and put in charge of 135 staff (The Daily Mail)
  3. Postman accused of stealing mail wins unfair dismissal case – A postman who was sacked after being accused of stealing mail has won his case for unfair dismissal. David Mitchell, a postman at Cupar delivery office in Fife, was accused of stealing greeting cards with money and gift vouchers inside despite bosses finding no clear evidence he had stolen them (Herald Scotland)
  4. Teacher sacked after ‘knife threat to pupil’ loses race discrimination case – A teacher sacked after allegedly threatening a pupil with a craft-knife has lost his claim for racial discrimination against the education authority. Damieon Herry – also accused of pulling a student’s blazer and swearing – said he’d been victimised and harassed at Dudley’s Hillcrest School and Community College because of his Caribbean background (The Birmingham Mail)
  5. Company set up by solicitor can be victim of age discrimination, says EAT in “hugely significant” ruling – A company set up by a senior solicitor to be a member of his firm’s limited liability partnership (LLP) can be the victim of age discrimination, the president of the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has ruled (Legal Futures)
  6. Court upholds HSBC wrongful dismissal claim but rules not racist – An employment tribunal has upheld a claim of wrongful dismissal made against HSBC but dismissed claims of racial and religious discrimination. Habib Kaya Biber sued HSBC for $23 million (£14.7 million) in August over alleged racism following his dismissal from the bank (City Wire)
  7. Colas Rail strengthens controls after ‘unacceptable’ ballast dust safety breach – Colas Rail looks set to be made subject to an improvement notice after 25 workers carried out track works in a huge cloud of hazardous ballast dust. The firm failed to impose appropriate health and safety measures, according to John Cullen of the Office of Rail & Road, giving evidence at a Birmingham employment tribunal at which Colas Rail was attempting to appeal against the improvement notice (Railway Technology Magazine)
  8. Standard Life consultant loses unfair dismissal claim – A risk management consultant who was sacked after over-claiming expenses at financial giant Standard Life has lost her case for unfair dismissal. Wendy Gullen had claimed she was dismissed because she refused to change from a home-based worker to an office-based one, but an employment tribunal has found that she was sacked for gross misconduct after her years of over-claiming came to light (Herald Scotland)
  9. Jealous worker ‘fired after putting screensaver of a witch on boss’s computer’ after promotion snub – An airport worker was fired for changing her boss’s computer screensaver from a birthday message to a witch in revenge for being passed over for promotion, a tribunal heard. Check-in attendant Alicja Derwich, 29, is also said to have made “obscene” gestures behind her supervisor Sophia King’s back when Ms King was promoted ahead of her (Evening Standard)
  10. Police marksman removed from duties after failing hearing test wins discrimination claim – A distinguished police firearms officer who was removed from his post after failing a hearing test has won a discrimination claim. Pc Bruce Shields, 39, had suffered high frequency hearing loss during his career as a marksman for Surrey and Sussex Police (The Telegraph)