A trainee emergency call operator was racially discriminated against when he was wrongly accused of distributing drugs. Jerry Ogbonna, a black employee of Partnership of East London Cooperatives (PELC), was suspended without pay after being accused of consuming and distributing illegal drugs. However, he had actually been taking Pro Plus – a caffeine supplement. An
A chief executive who was dismissed after raising concerns that her company was trying to avoid paying tax has been awarded £57,000 compensation. The case involved Mrs Faiza Rizvi, who worked for the medical staffing agency, Capital Care Services, for 11 years. In 2017, she became concerned that the company was deliberately moving money out
The Court of Appeal has upheld a tribunal ruling that female workers in Asda stores were employed under terms and conditions that were comparable to men working in the company’s distribution depots. It’s an important decision as it could allow thousands of women working for major retailers and numerous other businesses to bring equal pay
A teacher at a Jewish nursery who was sacked after refusing to lie about cohabiting with her boyfriend was not subjected to religious discrimination. However, the nursery’s criticisms of her amounted to sex discrimination and harassment. That was the decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal in a case involving the Gan Menachem Hendon Ltd nursery
The dismissal of a man who suffered mental health issues after having a heart attack at work was unfair. That was the decision of the Employment Tribunal in a case involving mechanic Gordon Flemming and East of England Ambulance Services NHS Trust. Mr Flemming was classified as disabled due to his anxiety depression disorder, but
A bisexual prison officer who was taunted by colleagues as ‘gay’, ‘poof’ and ‘vermin’ was victimised and unfairly dismissed. That was the decision of the Employment Tribunal in a case involving 40-year-old Ben Plaistow and HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes. Mr Plaistow began working at the prison in September 2014. Within a few weeks he
The government is planning more protection for pregnant women and new parents to prevent them losing their jobs when they return to work after having children. It’s put forward proposals that the legal protection against redundancy for pregnant women and new mothers on maternity leave is extended so that it continues for up to six
A company had not acted unfairly when it dismissed an employee for gross misconduct after he made offensive comments about the managing director on Facebook. However, the employee’s behaviour had not been so bad that it warranted dismissal without any notice pay so he was entitled to compensation. That was the decision of the Employment
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has ruled that a hotel worker is entitled to compensation because her employer failed to give her a statement of rights after one month of employment. The case involved three Polish workers who were dismissed after they complained about “persistent shortfalls in their wages, late payment and a falsification of their
The dismissal of a security guard after he submitted a grievance letter on behalf of work colleagues has been ruled unfair by the Employment Tribunal. The case involved Mr M Brough, who worked for Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital. In 2016, he emailed the trust’s chief nurse saying that security