Employment law stories in the news – 10.11.2014 to 16.11.2014

redmans-blog-newsIn the latest of our series of posts on employment law stories in the news, we take a look at ten stories relating to employment law that have made the news between 10 November and 16 November 2014

  1. Lawyer turned sailor fails in bid to sue Sir Robin Knox-Johnston over round-the-world yacht race – A lawyer turned sailor who tried to sue Sir Robin Knox-Johnston and organisers of his round-the-world yacht race for alleged sexual discrimination and harassment has had her case thrown out (The Telegraph)
  2. Ed Miliband attacks Newcastle owner’s Sports Direct chain over ‘Victorian working practices’ – Ed Miliband has launched a fresh attack on Britain’s “epidemic” of zero-hours contracts by condemning businesses for using “Victorian practices” to exploit workers. The Labour leader used a speech to party members in the West Midlands to single out retailer Sports Direct as a “terrible” employer for some of its staff (The Shields Gazette)
  3. Essex tree surgeon in court after chainsaw fall onto worker – A tree surgeon from Clacton-on-Sea has been fined after he fell nearly four metres, still clutching a running chainsaw, and landed on a colleague as they were pruning a garden tree in Little Oakely, near Harwich (HSE)
  4. Forex banks prepare to claw back bonuses – Five banks at the heart of the forex rate rigging probe are preparing to claw back millions of dollars in bonuses from traders as the City seeks to shore up its reputation in the wake of the latest scandal to hit the banking industry (The Financial Times)
  5. Tougher fines for health and safety offences proposed – Large organisations committing corporate manslaughter could face tougher fines of up to £20m in England and Wales, a Sentencing Council review has proposed. Fatal health and safety offences could also carry fines of up to £10m, the new guidelines said (BBC)
  6. Midwife abortion objection case heard at Supreme Court – The UK’s highest court will hear legal arguments on whether midwives have a right to refuse to take any part in abortion procedures on moral grounds. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde appealed to the Supreme Court after judges in Scotland said Roman Catholic midwives had a right to conscientious objection (BBC)
  7. Vice principal of ‘Muslim Eton’ who claimed she was sacked and told she would go to hell for opposing rules that told all girls wear veils during lessons loses claim for racial discrimination – The vice principal of a Muslim girls’ college who claimed she was sacked for opposing rules telling all pupils to wear veils during lessons has lost her claim for racial discrimination (The Daily Mail)
  8. Staff at Jacobs biscuit factory to strike over suspension of sick pay – Hundreds of workers at a Liverpool biscuit factory are set to go on strike after voting in a row over sick pay. Members of the GMB at the Jacobs factory in Aintree backed the walkouts with 84%, with the union planning to announce strike dates soon of the vote (The Guardian)
  9. Company director fined for illegally accessing mobile phone company’s customer database – A company director has been fined after illegally accessing one of Everything Everywhere’s (EE) customer databases. Matthew Devlin, 25, from Halifax, Yorkshire, used details of when customers were due a mobile phone upgrade to target them with services offered by his own telecoms companies (ICO)
  10. £1m redundancy couple paid £120k for four months work in Yorkshire – A couple at the centre of an NHS salaries controversy were paid £120k for four months work in Yorkshire – weeks after receiving £1m in redundancy payouts (The Yorkshire Post)