Employee Dismissal Rights when Shielding: An Overview – Doughty Street Chambers

Posted April 20th, 2020 in chambers articles, coronavirus, employment, equality, news, unfair dismissal by sally

‘If your employer dismisses you as a result of you being unable to work due to you being in the shield group then you may have a claim for automatic unfair dismissal under s100(1)(d) or (e) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (“ERA”), no minimum qualifying period of employment is required to bring this claim.’

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Doughty Street Chambers, 14th April 2020

Source: insights.doughtystreet.co.uk

Illegality and separating a PD from an underlying dispute – 3PB

‘Tracey Robinson (‘C’) was hired by Mr Cathcart on behalf of the Crown Prince Ras-alKhaimah (‘the Sheikh’) in 2007 to carry out a number of duties including looking after the Sheikh’s children and properties in the UK. The contract clearly stipulated that C was responsible for paying her own tax.’

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3PB, 2nd March 2020

Source: www.3pb.co.uk

Can a one-off decision amount to a PCP? Generally not, unless it can be shown that the decision, act or omission relied upon would be the same in a similar situation, says the Court of Appeal in Ishola v Transport for London [2020] EWCA Civ 112 – 3PB

‘Mr Ishola was employed by the respondent (TfL) as a customer services administrator. He was at all material times a disabled person suffering with depression and migraines. He raised a grievance about the conduct of a colleague in April 2015 which was not upheld, shortly after which he went on long-term sick leave. The sickness absence was managed by the respondent through a process of referrals to occupational health doctors and management review meetings. Ms Bhaimia was appointed as the “People Management Adviser” (or PMA) responsible for dealing with the claimant. The task of managing his absence on sick leave was given to Mr Walters.’

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3PB, 2nd March 2020

Source: www.3pb.co.uk

Long term disability benefits: it all depends on the contract – 3PB

‘This appeal concerned a provision about long term disability benefit (“LTDB”) which formed part of the Claimant’s contract of employment. It provided for the employee to receive a Disability Income of 2/3rds of his Base Annual Salary less the State Invalidity Pension should he be absent from, and unable to, work due to sickness or injury for a continuous period of twenty-six weeks or more, which would commence twenty-six weeks after the start of his absence and continue until the earlier date of his “return to work, death or retirement”.’

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3PB, 2nd March 2020

Source: www.3pb.co.uk

Jhuti in the context of unfair dismissal proceedings – 3PB

‘The Claimant (“C”), at the time of his dismissal, had worked for the Respondent (“R”) for a number of years and was employed as a Deputy Team Leader in the family intervention programme. He had been seconded however to a role within the Acton Team as a Support Worker. The complainant, referred to in the Judgment as “SR”, was a university student who was undertaking a 3-month work placement with R within the Ealing Team. She had shadowed C on 2 occasions but wasn’t mentored or supervised by him.’

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3PB, 2nd March 2020

Source: www.3pb.co.uk

Employment Tribunal awards whistleblowing doctor £857,000 – Local Government Lawyer

‘A doctor who lost his job after making whistleblowing disclosures has been awarded more than £857,000 by an Employment Tribunal.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 19th March 2020

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

ICTS (UK) Ltd v Visram (2020) EWCA 202 – Old Square Chambers

‘Do the words “return to work” in a long-term disability scheme mean return to any work or the work that the employee was undertaking prior to going on long term sickness?’

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Old Square Chambers, 24th February 2020

Source: www.oldsquare.co.uk

DWP ordered to pay former trainee £400k over racism and ageism – The Guardian

‘A woman is to receive nearly £400,000 from the Department for Work and Pensions after a judge ruled that her colleagues there had deliberately created a “hostile environment” of racism and ageism that forced her out of work.’

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The Guardian, 25th February 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Reasonable adjustments – Is it relevant that the employee didn’t mention them? – 3PB

‘The dispute arose from the claimant’s back problems, which, it was agreed, made her disabled within the Equality Act 2010. She was unable to travel far and wanted to work mainly from home. This caused difficulty because her role, auditing the performance of National Health Service bodies, was “client facing” and required her to visit those bodies. She was eventually dismissed for reason of ill-health capability after an occupational health report and negotiations with her union representative. The respondent was concerned that she was not meeting her financial targets, i.e. the required amount of chargeable time billed to the respondent’s clients. These receipts from clients funded her salary. There were not enough clients within the short travelling distance from her home that she could manage.’

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3PB, 7th February 2020

Source: www.3pb.co.uk

Council-owned company defends unfair dismissal claim from ADHD sufferer – Local Government Lawyer

‘A refuse collector has lost his claim for disability discrimination against Bristol Waste, a wholly-owned operation of Bristol City Council.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 20th February 2020

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

When are Article 8 rights engaged in the context of an unfair dismissal claim and how should the engagement of such rights be approached by the tribunal? – 3PB

‘The claimant was employed by the respondent from 1994 until November 2014 as a Probation Service Officer (“PSO”). In 2014 there was an incident at the claimant’s home involving the claimant, her then partner, and her daughter, who was then a teenager. It was alleged that the claimant had been violent towards her daughter, something she had always vehemently denied. Social Services became involved and her daughter was placed on the Child Protection Register (“CPR”).’

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3PB, 7th February 2020

Source: www.3pb.co.uk

Ethical veganism: a philosophical belief – 3PB

‘The Claimant, Mr Casamitjana, was dismissed from his role at the League Against Cruel Sports in April 2018 after disclosing to colleagues that the company’s pension funds were being invested ‘unethically’. This was considered by the Respondent to be contrary to a management instruction not to provide financial advice to his colleagues. The Claimant brought claims of indirect discrimination, direct discrimination/harassment and victimisation by reference to his belief in ethical veganism, and PIDA detriment and dismissal, and wrongful dismissal.’

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3PB, 7th February 2020

Source: www.3pb.co.uk

EAT Applies Jhuti Principles to Uddin v London Borough of Ealing – Old Square Chambers

‘Do the principles set down by the Supreme Court decision in the landmark decision in Royal Mail Group Ltd v Jhuti (in which Simon Gorton QC and Jack Mitchell acted for the Royal Mail) apply to the assessment of whether an employer acted reasonably in dismissing an employee for the purposes of s.98(4) Employment Rights Act 1996?’

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Old Square Chambers, 17th February 2020

Source: www.oldsquare.co.uk

Case Comment: Royal Mail Group Ltd v Jhuti [2019] UKSC 55, Part Two – UKSC Blog

‘There are a number of ways in which this judgment opens the door to arguments about its wider impact.’

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UKSC Blog, 17th February 2020

Source: ukscblog.com

Case Comment: Royal Mail Group Ltd v Jhuti [2019] UKSC 55, Part One – UKSC Blog

‘If an employee is dismissed on bogus grounds invented by someone more senior than her in the business, that person’s true reason for acting as they did will be the real reason for the dismissal, even if the decision to dismiss was made by another person acting in good faith in reliance on the bogus grounds.’

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UKSC Blog, 17th February 2020

Source: ukscblog.com

Employees and child protection issues – Local Government Lawyer

‘The Employment Appeal Tribunal recently considered whether a probation service officer who failed to disclose a child protection issue was fairly dismissed. Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan and Hilary Larter analyse the outcome.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 14th February 2020

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Court rejects LiP’s “indiscriminate attack” on legal expenses insurers – Litigation Futures

‘The High Court has struck out a claim by a litigant-in-person (LiP) who responded to the failure of her employment tribunal case by launching an “indiscriminate attack” against legal expenses insurers and regulators.’

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Litigation Futures, 30th January 2020

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Article 8 & Unfair Dismissal – January 2020 – Pallant Chambers

Posted January 28th, 2020 in human rights, news, privacy, probation, unfair dismissal by sally

‘Q v Secretary of State for Justice UKEAT/0120/19 was a recent case in which the Employment Appeal Tribunal looked at the application of the Article 8 in a conduct dismissal case.’

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Pallant Chambers, 23rd January 2020

Source: www.pallantchambers.co.uk

Gareth Price reviews the need for a detriment to take place within the “employment field”. – Parklane Plowden Chambers

Posted January 17th, 2020 in appeals, disclosure, employment, employment tribunals, news, unfair dismissal by sally

‘The Court of Appeal has considered an interesting argument regarding an employee who, ostensibly, made protected disclosures and allegedly suffered detriments as a result – but may not have done so within the ‘employment field’; Tiplady v. City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council [2019] EWCA Civ 2180.’

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Parklane Plowden Chambers, 14th January 2020

Source: www.parklaneplowden.co.uk

Ethical Veganism as a Protected Characteristic – St John’s Building

‘An employment tribunal has ruled that ethical veganism is a philosophical belief that is protected by law against discrimination. In Jordi Casamitjana v the League Against Cruel Sports (LACS) JC complains of unfair dismissal having raised concerns with colleagues that its pension fund invested in companies involved in animal testing. The charity did not contest that ethical veganism should be protected but will argue at trial that JC was dismissed for gross misconduct.’

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St John's Buildings, 9th January 2020

Source: stjohnsbuildings.com