Employment law stories in the news – 29.06.2020 to 05.07.2020

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 29 June 2020 and 5 July 2020

  1. Pregnant financial analyst is awarded £4,000 after her boss said she was ‘letting the team down’ by going to antenatal check-up – A pregnant finance analyst was awarded £4,000 after her boss told her she was ‘letting the team down’ by attending an antenatal appointment (Mail Online)
  2. Tribunal strikes out “vexatious” claims against leading firm – A former employee of national law firm Shoosmiths – who was awarded £1,000 in damages for harassment back in 2017 – has had a string of further claims thrown out, with an employment tribunal branding them vexatious (Legal Futures)
  3. Manufacturing company fined after worker fatally injured – IFG Drake Ltd has been fined after a worker suffered fatal crush injuries whilst working on a machine at the site in Huddersfield (HSE)
  4. Former company behind Leyland’s Withy Arms fined £25,000 over unfair sacking – The former company behind a Lancashire pub has been ordered to pay more than £25,000 after it was found it unfairly sacked one of its employees (Lancashire Live)
  5. Slough support worker wins £15,000 payout after pregnancy discrimination – A former family support worker has been awarded thousands of pounds after she was discriminated against by Slough Children’s Services Trust after suffering a miscarriage (Slough Express)
  6. ‘Dictatorial’ high-flyer loses sexism tribunal – A woman who took her bosses at a FTSE 100 company to employment tribunal has lost her claim that sexism led to her being sacked after staff told of her “dictatorial” attitude in the office (The Times)
  7. Lecturer called ‘mad as a box of frogs’ wins constructive dismissal claim – A former university lecturer has successfully brought a constructive unfair dismissal claim at an employment tribunal after the education establishment failed to reduce her workload despite her mental health struggles (Personnel Today)
  8. Barrister raises £60k to sue chambers and charity – A criminal defence barrister who is suing her chambers and LGBT charity Stonewall for alleged victimisation has vowed ‘not to be deterred’ after her crowdfunding web page – which has raised over £60,000 – was suspended over the weekend (The Law Society Gazette)
  9. Former Styles & Wood bosses win £180,000 employment tribunal – Former Styles & Wood directors Tony Lenehan and Phil Lanigan have been awarded more than £180,000 in compensation between them after winning an employment tribunal against their former employer (Building)
  10. KPMG fires trainee for gross misconduct – The UK wing of KPMG has parted ways with an audit trainee, following a series of strange altercations with the professional services giant’s management (Consultancy.co.uk)