Employment law stories in the news – 01.02.2021 to 07.02.2021

In the latest of our series of posts on employment law stories in the news we take a look at ten employment law stories that made headlines between 1 February 2021 and 7 February 2021

  1. Pregnancy discrimination in the NHS: nurse wins compensation from trust – An NHS trust has been ordered to pay £8,500 compensation to a nurse who experienced discrimination and fear, rejection and animosity while pregnant (RCNI)
  2. Kuwait wealth fund’s diplomatic immunity challenged in UK tribunal – A UK employment tribunal has been told the London-based Kuwait Investment Office cannot rely on state or diplomatic immunity because the sovereign wealth fund is a “separate legal entity” and not part of Kuwait’s diplomatic mission (Financial Times)
  3. Teacher at £30,000-a-year private school who said she was forced to quit after blowing whistle on male colleague for telling pupil, 16, ‘to be a c**k teaser’ during drama rehearsals loses her case – A singing teacher who quit her job at a top private school in protest after a male colleague demanded a 16-year-old girl be ‘more of a c*** teaser’ during auditions has lost her employment case (The Daily Mail)
  4. NHS worker gets £10k payout from Trust after boss played endless practical jokes on her – An NHS finance manager gets £10k payout from Trust after being on the receiving end of endless practical jokes. An employment tribunal heard how an NHS worker’s boss tricked her into believing she had forgotten about a three hour presentation she had to give to senior managers (The Telegraph)
  5. Office worker wins Employment Tribunal after her employer refused homeworking – In one of the first cases of its kind an office worker who felt she had no choice but to resign after her employer refused her permission to work from home has won an unfair dismissal case (Cotswold News)
  6. Curry factory worker told he didn’t understand recipes because he was white was discriminated against, tribunal finds – A worker at an Asian food manufacturer was discriminated against and harassed on grounds of race after being told he didn’t understand the recipes because he was white, an employment tribunal has ruled (People Management)
  7. Sacked actress ‘would have refused to play gay role’ – An actress who was dropped from a play for posting alleged homophobic remarks online had not realised the character she was due to portray was a lesbian, an employment tribunal has heard (BBC)
  8. Great Ormond Street worker, 36, who said colleagues bullied her for being a Christian and called her a ‘silly white b***h’ and ‘stupid northener’ loses discrimination claim against children’s hospital – A Great Ormond Street Hospital worker’s claim that she was bullied for being a Christian and branded a ‘stupid northerner’ and a ‘silly white b***h’, has been dismissed by an employment tribunal (The Daily Mail)
  9. Legal sector denies claim that tribunal judges are ‘inexperienced’ – Claims that ‘inexperienced’ individuals are being hired as fee-paid employment tribunal judges and that a ‘free-for-all’ ensued after tribunal fees were abolished have been met with a barrage of criticism (Personnel Today)
  10. Sacked Christian actress’s discrimination case heard at Employment Tribunal – The case of a Christian West End actress who was sacked after sharing her beliefs about homosexuality is being heard at Employment Tribunal this week (ChristianToday)