Lady Hale gives the Alison Weatherfield Memorial Lecture at the Employment Lawyers Association – Supreme Court

Lady Hale gives the Alison Weatherfield Memorial Lecture at the Employment Lawyers Association (PDF)

Supreme Court, 10th July 2013

Source: www.supremecourt.gov.uk

Dumfries and Galloway Council v North (Equality and Human Rights Commission intervening) – WLR Daily

Dumfries and Galloway Council v North (Equality and Human Rights Commission intervening): [2013] UKSC 45 ;   [2013] WLR (D)  264

“The hypothesis of the second limb of the ‘in the same employment’ test in section 1(6) of the Equal Pay Act 1970 was that the chosen male comparators were to be transferred to do their present jobs in the location where the women claimants worked, while there was no requirement of any real possibility that such a transfer would occur. The question to be answered was whether in the event of such a transfer, however unlikely, the comparators would remain employed on the same or broadly similar terms and conditions to those applicable in their current place of work.”

WLR Daily, 26th June 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Supreme Court gives green light to school staff to bring equal pay claims – Local Government Lawyer

“The Supreme Court has allowed an appeal by a 251-strong group of female council employees and restored an Employment Tribunal decision that they could bring equal pay claims.”

Full story

Local Government Lawyer, 26th June 2013

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

North and others (Appellants) v Dumfries and Galloway Council (Respondent) (Scotland) – Supreme Court

North and others (Appellants) v Dumfries and Galloway Council (Respondent) (Scotland) [2013] UKSC 45 | UKSC 2011/0046 (YouTube)

Supreme Court, 26th June 2013

Source: www.youtube.com/user/UKSupremeCourt

Senior RAF nurse wins damages in sexual discrimination case – The Guardian

“The highest-ranking nurse in the Royal Air Force has won damages after bringing a sexual discrimination case against the Ministry of Defence.”

Full story

The Guardian, 25th June 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Riežniece v Zemkopības ministrija and another – WLR Daily

Posted June 25th, 2013 in EC law, employment, law reports, parental rights, sex discrimination, women by sally

Riežniece v Zemkopības ministrija and another (Case C-7/12); [2013] WLR (D) 247

“In circumstances where a much higher number of women than men took parental leave, Council Directive 76/207/EEC of 9 February 1976 (as amended) and the Framework Agreement on Parental Leave, contained in the Annex to Council Direction 96/34/EC precluded a situation where (1) as part of an assessment of workers in the context of abolishment of officials’ posts due to national economic difficulties, a worker who had taken parental leave was assessed in his or her absence on the basis of assessment principles and criteria which placed the worker who had taken leave in a less favourable position compared to workers who did not take parental leave; and (2) a female worker who had been transferred to another post at the end of her parental leave following that assessment was dismissed due to the abolishment of that new post, where it was not impossible for the employer to allow her to return to her former post or where the work assigned to her was not equivalent or similar and consistent with her employment contract or employment relationship because, at the time of the transfer, the employer was informed that the new post was due to be abolished.”

WLR Daily, 20th June 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

A heavy cost? (Pt 2) – New Law Journal

“David Burrows continues his review of how LASPO has influenced the funding landscape of family litigation.”

Full story

New Law Journal, 20th June 2013

Source: www.newlawjournal.co.uk

Unison to Judicially Review ‘Brutal’ Employment Tribunal Fees – UK Human Rights Blog

“News that Unison has applied for Judicial Review of the Government’s controversial plans to introduce fees in the Employment Tribunal has gone viral in the Labour Law community. A key theme in the application is access to justice for working people, particularly women.”

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 21st June 2013

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Devout Christian awarded £100k in Blu-Tack sexual harassment case – Daily Telegraph

“A council has been forced to pay a devout Christian more than £100,000 after colleagues stuck mini models of male genitalia made of Blu-Tack on her telephone.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 7th June 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

‘Lad mags’ legal action warning to retailer – BBC News

Posted May 29th, 2013 in complaints, media, news, pornography, sex discrimination by sally

“Pressure groups have warned British retailers they could face legal action if they display magazines showing naked and near-naked images on their covers.”

Full story

BBC News, 27th May 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Law firms have ‘unconscious bias’ that stops women from getting promoted, says senior City lawyer – Daily Telegraph

Posted May 28th, 2013 in employment, equality, law firms, news, sex discrimination, women by sally

“As Lady Justice Hallett, a senior woman judge, warns the ‘frenetic’ pace of life holds women back, a leading lawyer and diversity consultant to the top legal institutions says there is an ‘unconscious bias’ against women in the legal profession.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 24th May 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Female police officer offered ‘pink gun’ wins £20K in compensation – Daily Telegraph

Posted May 21st, 2013 in compensation, firearms, news, police, pornography, sex discrimination, tribunals by sally

A female police firearms officer tricked into opening a filing cabinet full of porn and offered a “pink gun” as a weapon has been awarded £20,000 in compensation.

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 21st May 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Trainee lawyer was denied permanent contract when she became pregnant – The Guardian

“A trainee lawyer is in line for compensation from a top City law firm after winning her case for discrimination after she missed out on a job because she was pregnant.”

Full story

The Guardian, 19th May 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Commerzbank ‘victimised’ employee over discrimination case, tribunal rules – The Guardian

“A City banker was ‘victimised’ by her bank after it discovered she was suing her former employer for sexual discrimination, a tribunal has ruled. Latifa Bouabdillah was sacked by Commerzbank after less than a month when her boss heard she was suing her former employer, Deutsche Bank, for more than £1m in damages for sexual discrimination.”

Full story

The Guardian, 15th April 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Glass ceilings and the law: unconscious bias must be acknowledged – The Guardian

Posted April 17th, 2013 in employment, equality, news, race discrimination, sex discrimination, women by sally

“Employers may not realise that they’re favouring ‘people like us’ applicants but a recent tribunal case highlights how the burden is on the employer to explain a difference in treatment.”

Full story

The Guardian, 17th April 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Policy allowing cross-gender searches in prisons not unlawful, says High Court – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted April 5th, 2013 in news, prisons, search & seizure, sex discrimination by sally

“The secretary of state’s policy in respect of rub-down searches of prisoners, which allows cross-gender searches in the case of male prisoners but not for female prisoners, does not discriminate against male prisoners on grounds of sex.”

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 4th April 2013

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Regina (Dowsett) v Secretary of State for Justice – WLR Daily

Regina (Dowsett) v Secretary of State for Justice [2013] EWHC 687 (Admin); [2013] WLR (D) 126

“The Secretary of State’s policy that male prisoners could not normally object to “rub-down” searches being conducted by a female prison officer except on genuine religious or cultural grounds was not discriminatory on grounds of sex or lack of religion. The exceptions to the policy were a proportionate way of dealing with genuine objections by male prisoners to being searched by female officers and the width of the exceptions to the policy did not lead to an unacceptable risk of unlawful decision-making.”

WLR Daily, 27th March 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Julie Burchill entitled to ‘offend’ transsexuals, press watchdog rules – Daily Telegraph

Posted March 27th, 2013 in complaints, freedom of expression, media, news, sex discrimination by tracey

“Julie Burchill was entitled to write a controversial article about transsexuals
because she was expressing her opinion, the Press Complaints Commission (PCC)
has ruled.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 26th March 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Kenny v Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform – WLR Daily

Posted March 4th, 2013 in EC law, equal pay, law reports, news, proportionality, sex discrimination by sally

Kenny v Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Case C-427/11); [2013] WLR (D) 87

“In the light of article 141 EC and Council Directive 75/117/EEC (relating to the application of the principle of equal pay for men and women meant, in relation to indirect pay discrimination), it was for the employer to establish objective justification for the difference in pay between workers who considered that they had been indirectly discriminated against and the comparators. The employer’s justification for the difference in pay had to relate to the comparators. The interests of good industrial relations might be taken into consideration by the national court as one factor among others in its assessment of whether differences between the pay of two groups of workers were due to objective factors unrelated to any discrimination on grounds of sex and are compatible with the principle of proportionality.”

WLR Daily, 28th February 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Hackney London Borough Council v Sivanandan and others – WLR Daily

Hackney London Borough Council v Sivanandan and others: [2013] EWCA Civ 22;   [2013] WLR (D)  34

“The employment tribunal had not erred in law when, on a complaint of victimisation, it made an award of compensation against an employer which was much larger than an award it had already made against the employer’s employee at an earlier remedy hearing in which the employer had not taken part.”

WLR Daily, 29th January 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk