Category Archives: Employment tribunals

UK whistleblower ‘morally compelled’ to speak out on Afghan withdrawal

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Civil servant Josie Stewart spoke to media after government presented ‘dishonest account’, tribunal told

A Foreign Office civil servant felt “morally compelled” to speak to the media about the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan after the government presented a “dishonest account” of what happened, an employment tribunal has heard.

Josie Stewart was sacked by the Foreign Office (FCDO) after blowing the whistle on the failures of the withdrawal from Kabul and disclosing emails indicating Boris Johnson’s involvement in an “outrageous” decision to prioritise the evacuation of staff from the animal charity Nowzad, despite his denials.

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Government urged not to resurrect fees for UK employment tribunals

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Unions and workers’ groups say return of fees, scrapped in 2017, will send wrong message to employers

Unions and workers’ rights groups are urging the government to reconsider plans to reintroduce fees for employment tribunals amid fears it will encourage exploitation.

A coalition of 48 organisations, including the TUC, Citizens Advice, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the Fawcett Society and Maternity Action, said bringing back fees, which were ditched in 2017, meant “bad employers are being given the go-ahead to undercut good ones”.

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Former race lead sues EHRC for race discrimination

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Exclusive: Former staff member at equality watchdog says she was vilified, silenced and punished for speaking up on race

A former staff member at the Equality and Human Rights Commission is suing the watchdog, alleging race discrimination and unfair dismissal, at an employment tribunal this week.

Preeti Kathrecha, a senior associate and race protected-characteristic lead at Britain’s equality watchdog until 2021, claims she was vilified, silenced and punished for “doing my job” by speaking up about race.

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No 10 declines to say Sunak confident Zahawi has always told him truth about his tax affairs – UK politics live

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Downing Street spokesperson also says inquiry into former chancellor’s affairs to be ‘conducted swiftly’

There are two urgent questions in the Commons later. At 12.30pm Caroline Lucas (Green) is asking one about the child asylum seekers who have gone missing from hotel accommodation provided by the Home Office, and that will be followed by Ben Bradshaw (Lab) asking one about the Church of England’s stance on equal marriage.

After those are over Damian Hinds, the justice minister, will deliver a statement about the probation inspectorate.

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Portsmouth University loses discrimination case against Indian lecturer

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Dr Kajal Sharma was only one of 12 senior academics not to be reappointed to her post

A university has been found to have discriminated against an Indian lecturer on the grounds of race after it failed to reappoint her for a job she had been doing for five years, replacing her with a white candidate with no experience of the role.

Dr Kajal Sharma was one of only two senior lecturers at the University of Portsmouth who were not reappointed to their jobs when their contract came to an end, while 11 out of 12 white colleagues were successful, an employment tribunal heard.

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Labour MP’s aide was unfairly dismissed, tribunal rules

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Elaina Cohen wins two claims against Khalid Mahmood but loses claim that dismissal was related to her race, religion or belief

A parliamentary aide and former partner of a Labour MP has won a claim against him for unfair dismissal with a tribunal also agreeing she was “isolated and marginalised” for a year before being sacked.

Elaina Cohen won two claims that she made against her former boss Khalid Mahmood, the MP for Birmingham Perry Barr. But she lost other claims including that her dismissal was related to race, religion or belief.

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Maya Forstater was discriminated against over gender-critical beliefs, tribunal rules

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Researcher lost job at thinktank after tweeting that transgender women could not change their biological sex

A researcher who lost her job at a thinktank after tweeting that transgender women could not change their biological sex has won her claim that she was unfairly discriminated against because of her gender-critical beliefs.

Maya Forstater suffered direct discrimination when the Centre for Global Development (CGD), where she was a visiting fellow, did not renew her contract or fellowship, an employment tribunal found on Wednesday.

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Allison Bailey case is a microcosm of the wider debate about transgender rights

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Barrister’s unlawful discrimination case sees levels of engagement rare for an employment tribunal

With its own dedicated (unofficial) Twitter account and people following proceedings daily live via video, the unlawful discrimination case brought by barrister Allison Bailey against her chambers Garden Court and Stonewall has seen levels of engagement rare for an employment tribunal.

The reason is that the case, due to hear closing arguments on Monday, is a microcosm of the wider debate about transgender rights.

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Caretaker of stately home gave away £5m Tudor panel because ‘it was rotten’

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Brian Wilson tells tribunal he tossed overmantel from Seighford Hall on to a pile of firewood, before giving it to an antiques dealer

The caretaker of a stately home in Staffordshire gave away a rare Tudor carved panel worth up to £5m because he thought it was rotten, an employment tribunal has heard.

Brian Wilson took the 450-year-old overmantel from the Grade II-listed Seighford Hall and tossed it on a pile of firewood, before giving it to an antiques dealer who later tried to sell it.

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Calling a man ‘bald’ is sexual harassment, employment tribunal rules

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Tony Finn, who worked at West Yorkshire manufacturing firm for 24 years, is in line for compensation

Calling a man “bald” is sexual harassment, an employment tribunal has ruled.

Hair loss is much more prevalent among men than women so using it to describe someone is a form of discrimination, a judge has concluded. Commenting on a man’s baldness in the workplace is equivalent to remarking on the size of a woman’s breasts, the finding suggests.

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‘Loud’ academic awarded more than £100,000 for unfair dismissal

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University of Exeter ordered to pay compensation to physicist Dr Annette Plaut, who was sacked after 29 years

A senior academic who says she was sacked from her post in a university’s physics department because of her loud voice has been awarded more than £100,000 after winning a claim for unfair dismissal.

Dr Annette Plaut told the Guardian she had a “naturally loud voice” that came from her middle European Jewish background and claimed it was the combination of her being “female and loud” that had led to her dismissal from the University of Exeter.

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Barrister who sued after colleague asked him to stop farting loses case

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Lawyer said flatulence was caused by heart medication and argued the request violated his dignity

A senior barrister who sued the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) after a colleague asked him to stop breaking wind in the room they worked in together has lost his case.

Tarique Mohammed sued for harassment and told an employment tribunal that his repetitive flatulence was caused by medication he was on for a heart condition.

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Menopause at centre of increasing number of UK employment tribunals

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Rise in women taking employers to court citing event as proof of unfair dismissal and discrimination

Growing numbers of women are taking their employers to court citing the menopause as proof of unfair dismissal and direct sex discrimination, researchers have said.

According to the latest UK data, there were five employment tribunals referencing the claimant’s menopause in 2018, six in 2019 and 16 in 2020. There have been 10 in the first six months of 2021 alone.

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London casino let rich patrons racially abuse staff, tribunal hears

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Ex-employee is suing Aspinalls in Mayfair for discrimination, alleging a ‘hostile and demeaning environment’

An exclusive London casino allowed wealthy patrons to racially abuse staff with impunity and “segregated” black employees from gamblers who insisted on white dealers, a tribunal has heard.

Semhar Tesfagiorgis, 41, is suing Crown London Aspinalls, in Mayfair, for race and sex discrimination, alleging there was a “hostile and demeaning environment” when she worked there.

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Actor’s homophobia made her commercially toxic, tribunal told

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Seyi Omooba is suing Leicester theatre and talent agency after being sacked for Facebook post on homosexuality

A sacked actor who would have refused to play the role in which she had been cast as a lesbian because it was against her Christian beliefs made herself “commercially toxic” and her continued employment would have forced the show’s cancellation, a tribunal has heard.

Seyi Omooba was due to play Celie in a production of The Color Purple at the Curve theatre, Leicester, but was removed from the show in March 2019 after the emergence of a Facebook post from 2014 in which she said homosexuality was not “right”.

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Priti Patel faces tribunal questioning over alleged bullying

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Exclusive: lawyers for Patel’s former permanent secretary Sir Philip Rutnam push forward constructive dismissal claim

Priti Patel is facing the possibility of being questioned before a 10-day employment tribunal hearing next September after lawyers for her former permanent secretary Sir Philip Rutnam pushed forward with a claim for constructive dismissal.

The home secretary, her department, and Downing Street are also being asked to disclose all correspondence related to Rutnam’s departure following claims that he was forced out of his job for intervening in her alleged bullying of fellow civil servants.

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