In Mhindurwa v Lovingangels Care Limited, an employment tribunal held that an employee, who was made redundant in the early months of the pandemic, was unfairly dismissed because her employer did not consider furloughing her. Mhindurwa v Lovingangels Care Limited (ET Case no. 3311636/2020) Ms Mhindurwa was employed as a care assistant and, from October… >>
The Supreme Court has unanimously dismissed the appeal in Royal Mail Group Ltd v Efobi [2021] UKSC 33, upholding the initial decision of the employment tribunal and finding that there has been no substantive change in the law for establishing the burden of proof in a discrimination claim. Royal Mail Group Ltd (Respondent) v Efobi… >>
Among the trickle of COVID-19 related employment claims which have been decided by the employment tribunals, there has so far been a very low success rate amongst employees. The published cases indicate that tribunals are taking a fairly robust attitude towards health and safety issues in the context of coronavirus. However, in this recent case… >>
Where a claimant succeeds in a wrongful dismissal claim but, in the unfair dismissal claim brought in the same proceedings, the tribunal finds that the dismissal was not unfair, any breaches of the Acas Code on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures, consisting of procedural failings by the employer in its investigatory and disciplinary process, remain relevant… >>
When determining an application for ‘relief from sanctions’ under Rule 38(2) following a failure to comply with an unless order, a tribunal should take into account the party’s attempt to comply with the unless order, to analyse the extent of the failure in material compliance, when weighing up the interests of justice. When there is… >>
The ‘childcare disparity’ (ie the fact women bear a greater childcare responsibility than men) is so well known in the context of indirect sex discrimination claims, and has so often been the subject of judicial notice in previous cases, that it is incumbent on an employment tribunal to take notice of it in the circumstances… >>
The inability of a claimant to obtain interim relief from the employment tribunal in a dismissal claim alleging sex discrimination and victimisation does not breach Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), according to the Court of Appeal. Steer v Stormsure Ltd [2021] EWCA Civ 887 What are the practical implications of… >>
The belief that sex is biologically immutable, that there are only two sexes (male and female), that men are adult males and women are adult females, and that it is sex that is fundamentally important, rather than ‘gender’, ‘gender identity’ or ‘gender expression’, is a philosophical belief protected under section 10 of the Equality Act… >>
Article 157 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) must be interpreted as having direct effect in proceedings between individuals claiming a failure to observe the principle of equal pay for male and female workers for ‘work of equal value’. Furthermore, Article 157 TFEU includes within its scope situations where the… >>