Employment law stories in the news – 1.12.2020 to 6.12.2020

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 have made headlines over the last seven days

1. Preston club guilty of “appalling” agesim towards woman, 61 – Lynn Hodgkinson took the Empire Services Club to an employment tribunal, claiming she was forced out and replaced by someone almost 20 years younger (Lancashire Post)
2. Libel claim against in-house solicitors struck out by court – An accountant who accused two in-house solicitors of libel, malicious falsehood, harassment and negligence has had most of her claim struck out by the High Court (The Law Society Gazette)
3. Theology teacher at Eton quits role as ‘head of perspectives’ claiming ‘pupils are being indoctrinated in progressive ideology’ in wake of sacking of English tutor in ‘gender roles’ row – A teacher at Eton College has attacked the ‘progressive ideology’ that he feels pupils are being ‘indoctrinated’ with at the elite school (Daily Mail)
4. Immigration officer wins £16k after ‘unfair’ probe into alleged racist slurs – A former Border Force officer who was alleged to have used racist slurs at work has been awarded more than £16,000 after an employment tribunal found the disciplinary process used by the Home Office was unfair (Personnel Today)
5. Security guard repeatedly misgendered by employer wins harassment case – A female security guard who was repeatedly mistaken for a man by her employer was a victim of harassment as the conduct “violated her dignity”, a tribunal has ruled (People Management)
6. Lloyd’s of London worker wins bullying case – An employee at a Lloyd’s of London underwriter who suffered “significant incidents of bullying” and was “berated” by his manager in the middle of an open plan office has won an employment tribunal lawsuit (The Financial Times)
7. Leading charity facing legal action over claims of anti-Christian discrimination – A leading Scottish charity is facing legal action over claims it displayed anti-Christian bias after sacking a church elder and refusing to rent out a building for Sunday services (The Telegraph)
8. Former Glentoran defender Ferrin set to face old club off the field as solicitor in unfair dismissal tribunal – A former Glentoran player is set to act as a solicitor against The Oval club at an industrial tribunal hearing in Belfast tomorrow morning (Belfast Telegraph)
9. Registrars have right to object to gay marriage says Labour equalities spokesperson – Registrars who have a religious objection to gay marriage should be protected from losing their jobs if they refuse to certify same-sex partnerships, according to Labour’s shadow faith minister (The Telegraph)
10. Scots gun cop blasted for ‘sexist’ views of female officers now offering union support to WPCs – A gun cop who said female firearms officers should be accompanied on duty by males now offers union support to WPCs. Inspector Keith Warhurst, 45, has been elected as a Scottish Police Federation rep providing help to colleagues of both sexes (The Scottish Sun)