Employment law stories in the news – 09.08.2021 to 15.08.2021

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 9 August 2021 and 15 August 2021

  1. Menopause at centre of increasing number of UK employment tribunals – Growing numbers of women are taking their employers to court citing the menopause as proof of unfair dismissal and direct sex discrimination, researchers have said (The Guardian)
  2. Care home chef sacked for looking after her grandchildren while their mum gave birth – A hardworking care home chef who agreed to live in a retirement home “bubble” during the first lockdown was sacked for looking after her grandchildren when their mum went into labour (The Liverpool Echo)
  3. Latvian worker wins racism claim after being told to speak English at work – A Latvian worker has won a racism claim after her factory bosses told her she must speak English at work. Albina Sokolova was disciplined by fruit and nut supplier Humdinger Limited after she admitted speaking in her native tongue with other Eastern European workers on the factory floor (Metro)
  4. S&G assistant who joked about Jimmy Savile loses employment case – An employment tribunal has rejected a claim that a pregnant legal assistant was unfairly dismissed by Slater and Gordon – finding that she was actually fired for offensive Facebook posts about Muslims and Jimmy Savile (The Law Society Gazette)
  5. Care worker unfairly dismissed because furlough wasn’t considered during redundancy process – A former care assistant, who was made redundant rather than furloughed at the start of the pandemic, was unfairly dismissed, a tribunal has ruled (People Management)
  6. Gay forensic expert who advised on BBC’s Silent Witness wins £91,540 payout after quitting her job when her boss brought up her sexuality – A forensic expert who advised on the BBC’s Silent Witness and quit her job after her boss raised a question about her sexuality has won £91,540 (Daily Mail)
  7. Mum wins £23,000 payout after being demoted while on maternity leave – A woman who tried to return from maternity leave only to be told her role ‘no longer existed’ has been awarded a £23,000 payout (Metro)
  8. Pregnant woman wins £20,000 from boss who joked she’d ‘sterilise her’ – A pregnant woman who was allegedly told she would be “sterilised” by the maternity clinic she worked at has won £20,000 at an employment tribunal (The Mirror)
  9. Credit Suisse banker unfairly dismissed over rogue trade, judge rules – A banker who executed a rogue trade that cost Credit Suisse almost £20,000 and then misled her supervisors about it was unfairly dismissed, a judge has ruled (The Telegraph)
  10. Scots worker awarded £22,000 after being sacked from ex’s firm after catching him texting another woman – Lynn Corrigan, 56, confronted Alexander McDonald, 54, over the alleged cheating but he dumped her and kicked her out the home they shared (The Scottish Sun)