Employment law stories in the news – 20.04.2020 to 26.04.2020

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 between 20 April 2020 and 26 April 2020

  1. NatWest worker hit by car on first day of work wins £4.7m from RBS over discrimination – A NatWest employee who was run over on her first day of work has won a record £4.7 million payout after the way she was treated left her needing psychiatric care (The Mirror)
  2. Ex UKIP chair sacked from DWP over tweets comparing migrants to terrorists and paedophiles – The former chairwoman of the Wirral branch of UKIP was sacked from her Civil Service job after tweets emerged comparing immigrants to terrorists and paedophiles (Liverpool Echo)
  3. Firefighters take legal action over government pension ‘robbery’ – Four public services unions have taken the government to court over pension benefits. The Fire Brigades Union (FBU), supported by the prison staff union (POA), public services union PCS and general union the GMB, has filed court proceedings (Personnel Today)
  4. Hospital secretary who was sacked for repeatedly checking her own medical records wins £270,000 payout – A hospital secretary has been awarded almost £270,000 after she was wrongly sacked for repeatedly checking her own medical records (Daily Mail)
  5. Royal Parks embroiled in £750,000 race discrimination legal battle – The Royal Parks is embroiled in a £750,000 race discrimination legal battle over claims that black toilet cleaners are paid less than white employees (The Telegraph)
  6. Forensic scientist, 46, who worked on the Croydon Cat killer investigation wins sex discrimination case after her boss asked if she didn’t like him because she is gay – A forensic scientist who worked on the Croydon Cat killer investigation has won a sexual discrimination case after her boss asked if she didn’t like him because she is gay (Daily Mail)
  7. Hairdresser wins £20,000 from boss who forced her to pick up dog poo – A hairdresser has been awarded £20,000 in damages from her former boss after she was ordered to pick up dog poo and made the victim of harmful gossip because she is Muslim (The Metro)
  8. Engineer wins £175,000 over homophobic emails and ‘limp-wristed gestures’ – An aerospace engineer has won an employment tribunal with a £175,000 payout after he faced a ‘whirlwind of torment’ after coming out as gay at work (The Metro)
  9. Pregnant law firm worker awarded £23k after email sacking – A Manchester law firm which sacked a pregnant employee by email a week after hiring her, and after she suffered nausea and vomiting caused by pregnancy, has been ordered to pay over £23,000 by the employment tribunal (The Law Society Gazette)
  10. Priti Patel faces unfair dismissal claim from Philip Rutnam – Ex-Home Office chief Sir Philip Rutnam has lodged an employment tribunal claim for unfair dismissal and whistleblowing against Home Secretary Priti Patel (BBC)