Employment law stories in the news – 16.11.2020 to 22.11.2020

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 made headlines between 16 November 2020 and 22 November 2020

  1. Vardags takes employee to court for leaking email banning cardigans – Vardags has taken an ex-employee to court for allegedly leaking the email in which the firm’s President and founder, Ayesha Vardag, banned cardigans in the office (Roll On Friday)
  2. Student’s tribunal claim against law school thrown out by Court of Appeal – A former University of Law student who accused the training provider of discrimination has had his claim dismissed by the Court of Appeal (The Law Society Gazette)
  3. Record redundancies leave employment tribunals struggling to cope despite government measures – Data released on Thursday (12/11/20) by HM Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) shows outstanding employment claims have increased by more than a third since start of pandemic (Legal Futures)
  4. Apprentice joiner, 16, wins £8,000 payout after he sued his building firm boss for age discrimination when he was told on email ‘you have a lot of maturing up to do’ – An apprentice joiner won a £8,000 payout after he sued his building firm boss for age discrimination when he was told over email ‘you have a lot of maturing up to do’ (The Daily Mail)
  5. Bullying inquiry ‘found evidence Priti Patel broke ministerial code’ – A Cabinet Office inquiry into allegations of bullying by Priti Patel has found evidence that she broke the ministerial code, informed sources have told the Guardian (The Guardian)
  6. No 10 passes back control of advisers after Dominic Cummings – Downing Street is preparing to relinquish day-to-day control over government special advisers in an attempt to improve morale in Whitehall after the departure of Dominic Cummings (The Times)
  7. Sacked Glasgow IKEA worker wins cash settlement after battle over sick pay cuts – A shop steward sacked after fighting against cuts in workers’ sick pay has won a financial settlement against furniture giant IKEA (The Daily Record)
  8. Redundant staff at collapsed Fifteen Cornwall claim more than £200K in payments – Former employees of the collapsed Cornish restaurant Fifteen Cornwall have claimed more than £200,000 in payments following a failure in the redundancy process. The restaurant – founded by Jamie Oliver – was launched 13 years ago and was run by the charity Cornwall Food Foundation (ITV)
  9. Police Scotland ‘tried to suppress’ sexism claims – A former firearms officer, who claims she was discriminated against because she was a woman, says Police Scotland tried to suppress what happened to her. Rhona Malone was told that two female officers should not be deployed together when there were men on duty (BBC)
  10. Dean of Oxford college steps aside in long-running dispute – The head of a prestigious Oxford college has stepped aside in the latest twist in a long-running battle over his position (The Guardian)