Employment law stories in the news – 16.07.2018 to 22.07.2018

In the latest of our series of posts on employment law stories in the news we examine ten employment law-related stories that have made headlines between 16 July 2018 and 22 July 2018:

  1. Yorkshire company fined after worker sustains chemical burns – A rubber inflatable boat manufacturing and repair company has today been sentenced after an employee sustained chemical burns while cleaning down a boat using solvents at its factory in Hull (HSE)
  2. Network Rail signalman sacked after 44 years ‘for taking 20 minute break’ – Peter Lee, from Littlehampton, Sussex, started working for Network Rail – then British Rail – at the age of 16. But the loyal employee claims he was axed after winning the right to an uninterrupted 20-minute meal break following a grievance procedure in 2015 (The Sun)
  3. Employment tribunal hears cases against National Gallery – Art educators who allege they have been sacked by the National Gallery, many after decades of service, are bringing their cases to an employment tribunal in the latest legal row over the gig economy (The Guardian)
  4. Acas reports spike in employment tribunal claims – The number of people considering bringing an employment tribunal in any given week has increased by nearly 30% in the year since fees were declared unlawful (Law Society Gazette)
  5. Fotheringhame battles to get job back – David Fotheringhame’s fight to get his job back at former employer Barclays kicked off at a London employment tribunal this week, four months after a judge ruled that the managing director was unfairly dismissed (FX Week)
  6. Former Mulberry employee loses belief discrimination case – A former Mulberry employee who refused to sign a copyright agreement because she held a “philosophical belief” that she should own the rights to her work has lost her case at the Employment Appeal Tribunal (Personnel Today)
  7. Whistleblower awarded £7k in police watchdog case – A former director turned whistleblower at Scotland’s police watchdog has been awarded more than £7,000 by an employment tribunal after it ruled she had suffered injury to her feelings as part of a grievance appeal (The Scotsman)
  8. National Trust must pay £7,000 to dismissed employee – The National Trust has been ordered by an employment tribunal to pay a former employee more than £7,000. In a ruling released by the tribunal this week after a hearing in Birmingham in June, the judge said the charity had breached the claimant’s contract of employment by dismissing her without notice (The Third Sector)
  9. Former RBC forex trader in rare win for a City whistleblower – Royal Bank of Canada unfairly dismissed a former currencies trader who had called on the bank to tighten up what he called “box-ticking” compliance procedures, a London employment tribunal has ruled in a rare victory for a City whistleblower (The Financial Times)
  10. Cheshire East Council ‘whistleblower’ loses unfair dismissal case – A senior council worker has lost a claim that she was unfairly dismissed after she raised concerns that dozens of care workers were being underpaid (BBC)