Employment law stories in the news – 06.01.2020 to 12.01.2020

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 6 January 2020 and 12 January 2020

  1. Samira Ahmed wins BBC equal pay tribunal – Presenter Samira Ahmed has won the employment tribunal she brought against the BBC in a dispute over equal pay (BBC)
  2. KFC worker ‘forced out of job’ after refusing date with colleague, employment hearing told – A woman working at KFC was forced out of the job after turning down a date with a male colleague, an employment tribunal heard (Wales Online)
  3. ‘Repeated failings’ at St Andrew’s Healthcare mental health charity – A mental health hospital charity has been told it made “repeated and systemic failings” in its leadership by health inspectors. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) raised several concerns at St Andrew’s Healthcare, based in Northampton (BBC)
  4. Tesco staff in Tayside and Fife could claim thousands in legal dispute over equal pay – A group of current and former employees of the supermarket have mounted a challenge seeking back pay as store staff are paid up to £3 per hour less than those in warehouses and distribution centres (The Courier)
  5. Former DWF trainee banned over email leaks to third party – A trainee solicitor dismissed by her former firm DWF over confidentiality breaches has been told she can no longer work in the regulated legal profession (The Law Society Gazette)
  6. Goldman Settles ADHD Discrimination Suit With Former Analyst – Goldman Sachs Group Inc. settled a discrimination claim with a former analyst who alleged that the bank discriminated against him because of his attention-deficit condition (Bloomberg Quint)
  7. Lawyers call time on boozy events over bullying and sexual harassment fears – Junior lawyers have complained that firms are encouraging too many boozy work events, which they claim can lead to bullying and sexual harassment of vulnerable staff (The Times)
  8. Solicitor sues for discrimination over enforced farm away day trip – An employment solicitor is suing the Government Legal Department, claiming he was made to attend a team building exercise that might harm his health (The Law Society Gazette)
  9. Liz Earle beauty firm ordered to pay £17k to sacked pregnant worker – A woman who was sacked by a beauty company when she was eight months pregnant has been awarded more than £17,000 by an employment tribunal (BBC)
  10. Female driver relocated by manager who found her attractive awarded £74,000 – A female driver and trainee highway inspector has been awarded almost £74,000 after an employment tribunal (ET) found she had been constructively unfairly dismissed following harassing behaviour by her manager and supervisor (People Management)