Employment law stories in the news – 04.11.2019 to 10.10.2019

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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 4 November 2019 and 10 November 2019

  1. Dairy farm fined after employee permanently blinded by disinfectant chemicals – Beechdean Farm Limited has been fined following an incident in which an employee was permanently blinded by corrosive chemicals used in cleaning (HSE)
  2. Shropshire prison officer sacked over ‘headlock’ loses tribunal plea – A Shropshire prison officer sacked for putting an inmate in a headlock has lost an appeal against the decision which he claimed was influenced by a row over his work boots (Shropshire Star)
  3. Retailer discriminated against employee by insisting she work late shifts – A home furnishings retailer discriminated against a disabled employee after refusing to make a reasonable adjustment by changing her shift pattern, a tribunal has ruled (People Management)
  4. Polish chef subjected to racial discrimination and harassment awarded more than £15,000 – A Polish chef who was subjected to racial discrimination and harassment at work has been awarded more than £15,000 (The Caterer)
  5. BBC ‘deliberately failed to call key witnesses’ in Samira Ahmed dispute – The BBC deliberately chose not to call key witnesses who could explain the pay difference between Jeremy Vine and Samira Ahmed, an employment tribunal has heard (The Guardian)
  6. Queen’s former surgeon wins dismissal case against NHS Grampian – The Queen’s former surgeon in Scotland has won an unfair dismissal case against NHS Grampian. Prof Zygmunt Krukowski resigned from his Aberdeen Royal Infirmary post in 2016, after earlier raising concerns about patient safety (BBC)
  7. Law students help mother win bias case – A new mother who was sacked while on maternity leave has been awarded £30,000 compensation thanks to free legal advice from two law students (The Times)
  8. Disabled IT teacher wins £85,000 compensation after posh boarding school sacks him – A disabled IT tutor has been awarded more than £85,000 compensation for being unfairly sacked from a posh boarding school – after suffering from insomnia. Darren Walker, 40, was booted out of prestigious Old Swinford Hospital School which charges pupils £11,940-a-year (The London Economic)
  9. Serial whistleblower was unfairly dismissed by employer fearful of further disclosures – A mental health nurse with a track record of whistleblowing during his previous employment was unfairly dismissed by a care provider that feared he was seeking to highlight its failures in his new role, an employment tribunal (ET) has ruled (People Management)
  10. Two British women lose their employment battles with American airbases after US claims state immunity… even though the barracks are in the UK – Two British women who worked at American military bases in the UK have had their employment tribunal cases dismissed after the US claimed state immunity (The Daily Mail)