Employment Tribunal cases in the news – 02.06.2014 to 08.06.2014

MoJIn the latest of our series of posts on Employment Tribunal cases in the news this week, we take a look at ten employment tribunal cases that have made the news between 2 June 2014 and 8 June 2014.

  1. Former Studley teacher wins unfair dismissal claim – A former Studley school teacher who alleged that a woman colleague placed her leg over his in the staff room has won a legal claim for unfair dismissal. But Birmingham Employment Tribunal rejected the other legal claims from Clive Burbage for disability discrimination, unpaid wages and detriment (Redditch & Alcester Advertiser)
  2. Love rat caught ‘having sex with female colleague’ after pregnant girlfriend bugged computer – A pregnant boss unmasked her boyfriend as a love-rat by bugging his office computer, a tribunal has heard. The Sunday People reports a tape caught him ­having sex at work with a female colleague. But the mum-to-be was the girl’s line manager at the medical supply firm where the three of them were part of a 44-strong workforce (The Irish Mirror)
  3. Muslim boss who racially abused Sikh employee is told to pay him £18k – An Indian Sikh who was degraded and racially abused by his Muslim boss and colleagues has been awarded £18,000 at an employment tribunal. Paramjit Singh, a forecourt cleaner at a garage in Greenock, was called a “lazy low-caste Sikh” and forced to repeatedly carry out demeaning tasks (Herald Scotland)
  4. City broker who refused ‘to run across trading floor while people threw water at him as colleagues chanted “only real men run”‘ sues for unfair dismissal – A London trader who refused to take part in his company initiation ceremony of running across the office while colleagues doused him in water is suing his former firm for unfair dismissal. Robert Bou-Simon, a broker at BGC Partners, told an employment tribunal he was the victim of a campaign of abuse after he declined to participate in ‘the run’ after his first trade at the firm’s London office (The Daily Mail)
  5. Sacked doctor hopes to win at least £6.5m in damages from Coventry NHS – Unfairly sacked doctor Raj Mattu says he hopes to win at least £6.5million in damages. If successful, his claim would be the biggest ever compensation for a dismissal for a doctor in the UK (The Coventry Telegraph)
  6. Former staff at Swaythling Transit plant in Southampton in legal battle with Ford over payouts – Motor giant Ford is embroiled in a legal battle with more than 150 former workers from its closed Southampton plant, the Daily Echo can reveal. This may be the largest group action brought to date for age discrimination in the private sector, and it is continuing to grow, says the legal firm representing the factory’s ex-employees (The Daily Echo)
  7. Sainsbury’s manager fired for ‘trying to rig internal survey’ sues for £139,000 – A Sainsbury’s manager is suing the supermarket for up to £139,000 for wrongful dismissal, lost salary, benefits and lapsed shares after he was sacked for allegedly trying to rig an internal feedback survey. Colin Adesokan, 47, was fired from his London regional manager’s job in October after a whistleblower sent an email to chief executive Justin King (The Evening Standard)
  8. Sacked lecturer launched ‘personal vendetta’ against university staff, tribunal finds – A sacked academic who flooded his former employers with freedom of information requests was waging a “personal vendetta” against university staff, a tribunal has found. Dr Gary Duke was fired from his part-time lecturing role at Salford University in 2009 after he made accusations of improper conduct against other staff members in his satirical newsletter (The Manchester Evening News)
  9. Top surgeon sacked after allegedly harassing two female trainee doctors, tribunal hears – A top surgeon was sacked by an NHS trust after he allegedly told two female trainee doctors they would receive unfavourable write-ups in their progress reports unless they agreed to his lewd demands, a tribunal judge heard (The Telegraph)
  10. Gay terror policeman claims he was forced to quit after being told bosses monitor sex app Grindr and officers taunted him saying he should ‘become a hairdresser’ – A gay policeman who claims he was forced to quit after being taunted by fellow officers is suing Metropolitan Police for race and homophobic discrimination. Special Branch detective Kevin Maxwell, who won a previous discrimination case against the force, claims he was driven to resign after officers taunted him by saying he should become ‘a hairdresser or cabin crew’ (The Daily Mail)