A software designer has lost his appeal against a court ruling that his employer owned the copyright on his work. The case involved Penhallurick and MD5 Ltd. Penhallurick had been employed by MD5 in 2006 to develop virtual forensic computing (VFC) software, after developing a manual VFC method as part of his MSc degree. VFC
A university lecturer has lost her appeal against a decision that her employer was entitled to dismiss her before the end of her probationary period. Korthals Altes began working for the University of Essex in 2017. Her contract provided for a three-year probation period, at the end of which she was entitled to apply for
A dealer at a casino has won her claim of race discrimination after her employer allowed customers to request that they only be served by white staff. The dealer, Ms Tesfagiorgis, was a black British national. She had worked for Aspinalls Club Ltd for 13 years at its casino in Mayfair, London. The casino’s patrons
Covid has impacted working life in the UK more than any other event in recent memory. The application of restrictions regarding how employees perform their duties have fluctuated over the last 20 months. In order to accommodate the changing nature of the workplace restrictions and also to try and protect employees from exposure to Covid,
Dismiss and re-engage, or fire and rehire, has been a practice for decades but recently has been receiving coverage in the press as a result of its use by high profile companies such as BA and British Gas, who have seen the coronavirus pandemic having a dramatic impact on their cash flow. An employer who
The Covid-19 pandemic has presented a plethora of challenges for restauranteurs, and many businesses have struggled to pay their rent whilst they have been forced to close in several national or localised lockdowns. The Coronavirus Act 2020 was introduced as emergency legislation to prevent commercial landlords from re-entering and taking back their premises based on
Local authorities are to receive extra funding to tackle landlords who fail to comply with energy rating standards on their properties. Since April last year, privately rented homes have had to meet a minimum energy performance rating of EPC Band E, making it illegal to rent out homes below that unless landlords have a limited exemption. Landlords
A phone supplier has been told it cannot enforce a cancellation clause in a contract with a customer because the terms are “too onerous”. The case involved Blu-Sky Solutions Ltd and Be Caring Ltd. Be Caring, a social care provider, had a contract for a mobile network service (MNS) to provide mobile telephone handsets for
A cinema has been told that it cannot defend a claim for payment of rent arrears and service charges on the basis that it was required by law to close during the Covid pandemic. The case involved London Trocadero (2015) LLP and Picturehouse Cinemas Ltd. Under the lease with the landlord, Trocadero, Picturehouse covenanted not
The High Court has ruled that a telephone conversation between the managing directors of two companies amounted to a binding agreement and had to honoured. The case involved Mansion Place Ltd v Fox Industrial Services Ltd. Mansion had engaged Fox to refurbish and extend student accommodation. There were delays in the performance of the works.