Case Law Update – Petrofac Offshore Management Ltd v Mr D C Wilson
Petrofac Offshore Management Ltd v Mr D C Wilson considers whether a gross misconduct dismissal may be unfair if the employee has previously received a disciplinary warning in respect of the same offence. In most cases, a one off act of gross misconduct would result in dismissal, but in some exceptional circumstances you may wish […]
Case Law Update – Miss S J Austin vs The Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust
In Miss S J Austin vs The Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust, a hospital secretary has been found to have been unfairly dismissed and discriminated against on the grounds of disability for repeatedly checking her own medical record. The tribunal found that the Hospital Trust did not take account of the fact that her behaviour […]
Case Law Update: Palmer vs AIMS Markets Limited
In the case of Palmer vs AIMS Markets Limited, Mr Palmer applied for a role as a senior HR professional but was unsuccessful following alleged comments from the prospective employer that they wished to recruit ‘fewer white men’. Whilst he was unsuccessful in his discrimination claims, the employment tribunal decided that he did not have […]
Case Law Update: Dwight Pile-Grey vs Ministry of Defence
In the case of Dwight Pile-Grey vs Ministry of Defence, Mr Pile-Grey has successfully claimed direct race discrimination, harassment and victimisation against the Ministry of Defence (MoD) after his 16-year career in the Army. Following a dispute with white soldiers who doubted his identity as a soldier, culminating in accusations of playing the “race card”, […]
Case Law Update: Topps Tiles Plc v Hardy [2023] EAT
In this case, Mr Hardy who had been employed by Topps Tiles since 2002, filed a complaint alleging unfair dismissal and disability discrimination after being dismissed from his position as a store manager in November 2019. He claimed to have suffered from depression for twenty years and insisted that his employer was aware of this fact. […]
When is an employer liable for disability discrimination?
Disability discrimination is unlike other types of discrimination (sex, race, religion etc) in that there is a requirement that for an employer to be liable for acts of discrimination, they must have known, or to have reasonably known that the employee was disabled. The circumstances In the case of Preston v E.on Energy Solutions Ltd, […]
Three interesting cases of discrimination in the UK
It is against the law to treat someone less favourably because of their gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or age; this is discrimination. However, more than 25% of the workers in the UK claim to have been discriminated against at work. Discrimination is not just isolated to the workplace and can occur across most […]
Being called ‘fat’ was not discrimination arising from a disability
Employment Appeal Tribunal Case: Evans v Xactly Corporation Ltd UKEATPA Category: Disability discrimination, harassment and victimisation In this employment appeal tribunal case the employee was disabled and was dismissed for poor performance. He claimed that both the process that led to dismissal and the dismissal itself, amounted to direct discrimination in relation to the protected […]
DWP Criticised for Disability Discrimination
The Department of Work and Pensions has come under fire from its staff, accusing it of disability discrimination. The latest staff survey has seen over 1,400 DWP civil servants claim incidences of bullying and harassment taking place at work, because of disability. These figures are up from more than 1,000 that was reported the previous […]