Employment law is rarely out of the news, and there have been a number of cases that have hit the headlines recently.
In this new regular feature, we’ve selected a few stories from recent months that you might find particularly interesting. As employment law solicitors, you should get in touch if any of these issues affect you.
Sex discrimination: Olwen was awarded £19,000
Olwen Renowden worked for the Office for National Statistics (ONS). She applied for promotion in April 2017, however, she wasn’t even invited to interview. A male colleague was given the position despite the fact that Olwen was better qualified than him.
She raised a grievance, but an internal investigation found there was no discrimination. She raised an appeal, but that failed too.
Olwen therefore felt she had no future at the ONS, resigned in August 2018, and took the ONS to the employment tribunal.
The tribunal found that the ONS favoured men, especially in higher positions, with women making up 37% of grade 7 employees, but just 20% of the higher grade 6.
Olwen was awarded £19,000 as compensation for injury to her feelings.
Unfair dismissal: Michelle was awarded nearly £45,000
Michelle Proctor worked for a GP service in Yorkshire, the Haxby Group Practice.
She suffered from carpal tunnel syndrome, arthritis and tendonitis that “left her in tears”, and repeatedly asked for voice recognition software so she didn’t have to do so much typing.
It took two years for her employer to grant her request. During this time, Michelle was off sick on multiple occasions because of the pain in her hands.
She resigned and made a claim for unfair dismissal. She won her case, and the tribunal also ruled that she had been unlawfully discriminated against because her employer didn’t make the necessary adjustments in time.
Michelle was awarded £44,673.75.
Unfair dismissal: Howell was awarded £30,486
Carpenter, Howell Wyn Christie, did maintenance for Tai Tarain, a not-for-profit housing association.
He was dismissed in September 2017 because a female tenant alleged that he’d asked her if she “swung the other way”, said gay people were his “pet hate”, and told the story of an apprentice who’d accidentally been locked in a room with a gay man.
In December 2017, Howell issued proceedings for unfair and wrongful dismissal.
The judge ruled that the tenant could have heard the apprentice story from someone else, and that she had good reason to embellish her account of the conversation with Howell because she was “hacked off” with him after an incident that occurred at her property. What’s more, the company failed to investigate both sides of her claim adequately.
Howell was awarded £30,486 in compensation and damages.
Need help?
For a FREE assessment of your case, call 0808 168 7288 or complete a Free Online Enquiry.
We have already helped thousands of people to win millions of pounds in compensation.
You have a choice of ways to pay, including ‘no win, no fee’.