A firm’s equality and diversity training has been dismissed by the Employment Appeal Tribunal as stale and ineffective against preventing harassment. The case involved Allay (UK) Ltd and Mr S Gehlen, who was of Indian origin. Mr Gehlen had been dismissed due to his performance. Following his dismissal, he complained that a work colleague had
A bus driver who knocked down a cyclist after he made obscene gestures towards him has lost his claim of unfair dismissal. Sam Beech had worked for Lothian Buses for 11 years until he was dismissed in September 2019 for gross misconduct. It all hinged on an incident when Beech was moving away from a
A bank worker has won his claim of unfair dismissal after he was made redundant following the breakdown of his relationship with his bosses. Joynal Choudhury had worked for Gatehouse Bank since 2015 and took on a new role as head of real estate in March 2018. He immediately suffered a strained relationship with his
The Court of Appeal has confirmed that an employer could be justified in not re-engaging an unfairly dismissed employee if it had a rational belief that he could not carry out the duties required in a new role or if there had been a genuine breakdown of trust. The case involved Mr Scott Kelly, who
A construction company was entitled to immediate payment of £1m that it had been awarded by an adjudicator following a contract dispute. That was the decision of the Technology & Construction Court in a case involving Quadro Services Ltd and FP McCann Ltd The issue arose after McCann had been engaged to construct buildings for
A hotelier has lost an appeal over court costs because of uncertainty over how the Covid pandemic would affect its business. The case involved Engie Power Ltd, which supplied electricity to a hotel owned by Douglas Hospitality Ltd. A dispute arose after Engie cut off the supply in October 2019. Douglas claimed this was unlawful
The Employment Tribunal has ruled that a manager who was told not to be a baby when he asked for time off due to kidney cancer was constructively dismissed. The case involved Steve Pointon, who was general manager of Alpha Omega Security from 2015-2018. He was signed off sick in June 2016 and diagnosed with
A director who continued to run a company that did not generate revenue and ran up debts of £7m has been disqualified for seven years for failing in his duty to creditors. The case involved Arise Networks Ltd, now in liquidation after being wound up in 2016, and its sole director, Mr Obaigbena. The Official
The High Court has clarified the issues involved when a company wished to invoke the ‘Covid-19 restriction’ to prevent being subjected to a winding-up order. It said that under the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (the Act), the company did not have to show that the pandemic had had a direct financial effect upon
We are now in the post Brexit period with the UK having signed a UK-EU co-operation agreement on 30th December 2020 (TCA). The TCA is the main agreement to govern the trade relationship between the UK and the European Union going forwards. As businesses navigate through the post Brexit period, we can assist with providing