Employment law stories in the news – 25.05.2020 to 31.05.2020

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 25 May 2020 and 31 May 2020

  1. Firefighter sacked for sexually harassing a teenage apprentice – A 50-year-old firefighter was sacked after touching and sexually harassing a teenage apprentice who secretly recorded his “sinister” behaviour on her phone (Liverpool Echo)
  2. Dean Percy faces further challenges at Christ Church, Oxford – The group set up to examine accusations of safeguarding breaches by the Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, the Very Revd Dr Martyn Percy, contains two members of the college who have supported complaints against him, a report in Private Eye suggests (The Church Times)
  3. Couriers delivering coronavirus test samples vote to strike over health and safety concerns – Medical couriers delivering coronavirus testing samples for the NHS have voted to strike after the company employing them refused to offer the riders themselves tests (The Independent)
  4. Courier firm accused of targeting union activists for redundancy – A courier company that delivers coronavirus samples for testing has been plunged into an industrial dispute over the dismissal of staff who claim they are being victimised for trade union and whistleblowing activities (The Guardian)
  5. Arsenal Women fined £50,000 for ‘act of discrimination’ relating to former coach’s dismissal – Arsenal Women have been fined £50,000 for “an act of discrimination” in dismissing an employee “by reason of disability” in 2014 (BBC)
  6. Civil servant called racist for saying Wales is always wet – A civil servant who was branded a racist for claiming that it always rained in Wales has been awarded more than £240,000 at an employment tribunal (The Times)
  7. Thousands of equal pay claims still received by tribunals each year – An average of almost 29,000 equal pay complaints are received by employment tribunals in England and Wales per year as the Equal Pay Act reaches its 50th anniversary (Personnel Today)
  8. Mind charity worker who reported colleagues for mocking disabilities was unfairly dismissed, employment tribunal rules – A charity worker at a regional branch of the mental health charity Mind was unfairly dismissed and victimised after reporting colleagues for mocking a physically disabled person, an employment tribunal has ruled (Third Sector)
  9. Gay aerospace executive, 41, wins £175,000 payout after his boss joked about him wearing tight shorts and asked what type of men he likes – A gay aerospace executive won a £175,000 payout after his boss joked about him wearing tight shorts and asked what type of men he liked (The Mail Online)
  10. Clarity faces legal action over pay for disabled workers – One of Britain’s oldest social enterprises is facing legal action over claims that it has not paid disabled workers. Community, the trade union, said that it had lodged legal papers with an employment tribunal over unpaid wages at Clarity, a maker of soap and hand sanitiser (The Times)