Employment law stories in the news – 02.12.2019 to 08.12.2019

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 have made headlines between 2 December 2019 and 8 December 2019

  1. Disabled kitchen manager was discriminated against following failed food safety checks – A disabled kitchen manager was discriminated against when his employer unfairly dismissed him for failing a food safety audit, a tribunal has found (People Management)
  2. Firm forced to refund £1,700 docked from employee’s pay for training – A law firm acted unlawfully when it deducted training costs from an employee’s wages when she was sacked, an employment tribunal has ruled (The Law Society Gazette)
  3. Graduate, 22, wins £3,000 ageism payout after being demoted for being ‘too young’ – A Scottish university graduate has won a £3,000 payout for age discrimination, after bosses tried to oust her from her job because she was ‘only 21’ at the time (The Metro)
  4. Sikh blocked from working at top London hotels over beard wins £7k – A Sikh backpacker who was blocked from working at top hotels including Claridge’s after being told they had a “no beards” policy has been awarded more than £7,000 in compensation (The Evening Standard)
  5. County council officer can keep his £24k tribunal payout – A former county council health and safety officer has been told he can keep a £24,000 payout after his bosses failed to provide an appropriate workstation (The Lancashire Telegraph)
  6. Disabled workers suffer pay penalty – Disabled employees are paid 12.2% less than their non-disabled peers, according to official data. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that in 2018 the median pay for non-disabled workers was £12.11 an hour, against £10.63 for disabled (BBC)
  7. Colchester soldier wins mistaken identity racism case – A soldier who was criticised by superiors who had mistaken him for the only other black sergeant in his wing was racially discriminated against. Randy Date believed colleagues at the Military Correction Training Centre (MCTC) in Colchester thought he was lazy because of his race, an employment tribunal heard (BBC)
  8. ‘Obsessional’ CPS solicitor was not victimised at work, rules tribunal – A solicitor with the Crown Prosecution Service who became ‘unreasonably obsessional’ about perceived grievances at work has lost her claim that she was victimised and bullied (The Law Society Gazette)
  9. Lawyer tells court to throw out Uber’s ‘hopeless appeal’ against tax ruling – A top lawyer whose campaign group won a court battle that could see Uber (UBER) liable for £1.5bn in unpaid VAT has called the ride-hailing giant’s appeal “hopeless” (Yahoo)
  10. Company sentenced following serious incident in sewer – A water and wastewater company has been fined following an incident in which three workers were carried along a sewer following the collapse of a 150-year-old sewer gate (HSE)