Employment law stories in the news – 03.12.2018 to 09.12.2018

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 3 December 2018 and 9 December 2018

  1. Plastic manufacturing company fined after employee killed – A company which manufactures plastic products has been fined for safety breaches after the death of an employee. Leicester Magistrates’ Court heard how, on 15 April 2016, a 52-year-old employee of Nylacast Limited was in the process of removing a cast plastic rod from a casting machine (HSE)
  2. NHS whistleblower forced to withdraw claims after being threatened with ‘life changing’ costs – A junior doctor has been forced to withdraw whistleblowing allegations against the NHS claiming he was threatened with ‘life-changing’ legal costs if he lost the case (The Telegraph)
  3. Jess Varnish case to be heard at Manchester Employment Tribunal – Jess Varnish’s case against British Cycling and UK Sport is to be heard at Manchester Employment Tribunal next week, her legal representative says. The 28-year-old sprinter was dropped from British Cycling’s elite programme in 2016 and claims unfair dismissal (BBC)
  4. Equality Act under the spotlight in veganism claim – Public and human rights firm Bindmans is to test whether ‘ethical veganism’ can be considered a philosophical belief under the Equality Act 2010 (The Law Society Gazette)
  5. Bar manager wins unfair dismissal case after CCTV shows her being throttled at Christmas party – Molly Phillips, 24, passed out after being grabbed round her neck by Nathan Webb. She was checked in hospital for a suspected stroke — and had no memory of what had happened until she saw CCTV footage of herself being choked by the burly American football player, 33 (The Metro)
  6. Deliveroo riders not entitled to workplace pension – The on-going debate on whether so-called gig workers are entitled to employment rights has swung back in favour of the employer, following a High Court ruling handed down this week (The FT Adviser)
  7. Patisserie was warned about finances a year before scandal – The former marketing chief of Patisserie Holdings flagged potential issues with the café chain’s financial figures to its board more than a year before the company said that it had discovered an accounting black hole (The Times)
  8. Company and Director fined following concrete pumping fatality – A concrete pumping company and its sole Director have been fined after an employee was struck and killed by concrete (HSE)
  9. Union to sue lord chancellor for ‘unlawful discrimination’ – A trade union representing cleaners, security guards and receptionists who work at the Ministry of Justice is preparing to sue the lord chancellor for unlawful discrimination as its members gear up for a three-day strike over pay (The Law Society Gazette)
  10. Depressed employee dismissed for ‘incapacity’ is granted appeal – A security manager with depression entitled to long-term disability benefits will be allowed to appeal a tribunal that found his dismissal on the grounds of “medical incapacity” was not in breach of his contract (People Management)