Employment law stories in the news – 24.02.2020 to 01.03.2020

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 24 February 2020 and 1 March 2020

  1. Capping disabled police officers’ pay-outs was discriminatory – The decision to cap compensation for two police officers with disabilities to prevent them from receiving a “windfall” was unfavourable treatment, the Employment Appeal Tribunal has ruled (Personnel Today)
  2. Trainee facing race and age-based bullying from colleagues was subject to discrimination and harassment, tribunal rules – The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has been ordered to pay more than £370,000 to a former employee who was subject to discriminatory behaviour and harassment related to her age and race (People Management)
  3. Care charity unfairly dismissed autistic employee, tribunal finds – The learning disability charity United Response unfairly dismissed a former care worker after it failed to make adjustments to take into account his recent autism diagnosis, an employment tribunal has ruled (Third Sector)
  4. ‘Ethical vegan’ sacked for complaining about pension contributions, tribunal hears – An “ethical vegan” was sacked by the anti-hunting charity he worked after he stepped into the role of “financial adviser” by emailing staff about their pension plans, his employer has claimed (The Telegraph)
  5. Presenter Samira Ahmed and BBC agree equal-pay settlement – The BBC will pay Samira Ahmed hundreds of thousands of pounds to settle her equal pay claim, in a decision that will embolden other women considering legal action against the broadcaster (The Times)
  6. Teacher unfairly dismissed after school dissuaded witnesses from attending hearing, tribunal rules – A teacher was unfairly dismissed after her employer failed to make reasonable efforts to encourage witnesses to attend disciplinary hearings, a tribunal has ruled (People Management)
  7. Care home worker whistleblower wins tribunal after racist boss refused to hire black person – A whistleblower walked out of a job in protest after her boss refused to hire a black person for a care home manager’s job, a tribunal has heard (Yahoo News)
  8. BBC faces dozens more pay disputes – The BBC still faces dozens of potentially costly pay disputes from staff members, suggesting the pay crisis that has dogged the public broadcaster for several years is yet to be resolved (Financial Times)
  9. Red Funnel ferry captain loses unfair dismissal case over boat crash – The captain of a car ferry that crashed with a pleasure boat has lost his case to get his job back, a tribunal heard (BBC)
  10. Paper-milling company fined after employee’s head was trapped in a machine – A paper-milling company has been fined after an employee suffered life changing injuries resulting in a nine-hour operation in hospital for facial reconstruction (HSE)