Employment law stories in the news – 06.09.2021 to 12.09.2021

In the latest of our series of posts on employment law stories in the news we take a look at ten employment law cases that made headlines between 6 September 2021 and 12 September 2021

1. Marketing director made redundant while on maternity leave after refusing £20k pay cut was discriminated against, tribunal rules – A marketing director who was dismissed while on maternity leave when she refused to take a lesser role with a £20,000 pay cut was discriminated against, a tribunal has ruled (People Management)
2. Woman who wanted to leave work at 5pm wins £185,000 payout – An estate agent has been awarded £185,000 after her boss refused to let her leave work early to collect her daughter from nursery (The Times)
3. Underperforming £110,000-a-year executive who regularly ‘went missing’ and turned up late wins unfair dismissal claim after he was sacked for trying to claim £60k on expenses – A senior executive sacked after trying to claim £60,000 on expenses with three years’ worth of receipts in a shoebox has won his unfair dismissal case (The Daily Mail)
4. Gender clinic whistleblower awarded £20,000 – A whistleblower who raised concerns about children’s safety at an NHS gender clinic has been awarded £20,000 in an employment tribunal (Personnel Today)
5. Crown Office accused of victimising worker over sexual harassment claims – A former Crown Office employee has launched legal action claiming she was sacked because she raised sexual harassment allegations against another member of staff (Herald Scotland)
6. Ex‑serviceman with PTSD harassed by British Airways, tribunal rules – British Airways harassed a former RAF serviceman with post-traumatic stress when it disciplined him for missing work after he rushed his daughter to hospital (The Times)
7. Hotel housekeeper made to sleep in chair and paid £1.41 an hour wins £55,000 – A hotel worker paid just £1.41 an hour and forced to sleep in a chair in the cellar has won more than £50,000 at an employment tribunal. She was also banned from taking any days off and was sexually harassed by her boss (The Mirror)
8. HR advisor who was sacked for complaining about only getting three chicken nuggets for £1.99 in office canteen wins £5,000 payout – An HR advisor who said he had been left ‘shocked and disillusioned’ after getting just three chicken nuggets for lunch has been awarded over £5,000 after he was sacked for complaining (The Daily Mail)
9. Scots La Vita restaurant worker wins £11k compo after ‘racist attack’ and challenged to fight by head chef – A restaurant worker has won an £11,000 pay out after a tribunal found he was racially abused and grabbed by the throat by a head chef (The Daily Record)
10. Trainee accountant wins £13,000 after being sacked for leaving work to pick up her sick child from school in ’emergency’ – A trainee accountant has been awarded £13,000 after she was sacked for leaving work to pick up her sick child from school. Mum Catherine Henderson received a message from her child’s school asking to come collect the pupil as they were ill and needed to be taken home (The Sun)