Business Law

An occupational therapist who lost her job after years of suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome has won her claim of discrimination and unfair dismissal. Ms D Ward had worked for Northumberland Tyne & Wear NHS Foundation Trust since 2000. The trust operated a sickness and absence management policy under which employees faced disciplinary action if they had more than three absences from work in a 12-month period. In 2009, Ward…

A group of tenants have won their appeal to exercise the right of collective enfranchisement and acquire the freehold of their flats. The properties were owned by Grosvenor (Mayfair) Estate and held on a long lease by K Group Holdings Inc (2019). The issue arose after Aldford House Freehold Ltd, the nominee purchaser for 17 lessees, served an initial notice claiming to exercise the right of collective enfranchisement on the…

The Employment Tribunal has ruled that the airline Ryanair discriminated against a flight attendant when she returned to work after being diagnosed with a brain tumour. Margita Dworak had worked for Ryanair from 2004-2018 and was a senior flight attendant at the time she resigned. In 2015, she began to experience severe headaches. These lasted for years and in 2017 she visited a specialist in Poland. She was later hospitalised…

A vehicle leasing company has won its claim to recover more than £560,000 in unpaid invoices following a dispute with a customer. The case involved Venson Automotive Solutions Ltd v Morrisons Facilities Services Ltd. The two companies had entered into a contract in which Venson leased a fleet of 1,014 vehicles to Morrisons. The hire agreement contained a clause stipulating that if Morrisons disputed any of the invoices, it needed…

A minority shareholder has been granted an interim injunction preventing a company from issuing new shares and loan notes. The applicant in the case had a minority shareholding in Brickvest Ltd (2019). There was a shareholders’ agreement specifying that certain matters required the applicant’s written consent, including the allotment of shares. The applicant sought an injunction preventing Brickvest from issuing new shares and loan notes, which it was planning on…

A financial adviser was unfairly dismissed after his employer put unreasonable pressure on him to extend a restrictive covenant. That was the decision of the Employment Tribunal in a case involving Peter Ward, who worked as a financial planning provider for Fiducia Comprehensive Financial Planning from 2009-2018. In May 2018, Ward resigned from the company and gave his three months’ notice, stating that he intended to spend more time with…

 The fashion house Mulberry has successfully defended a discrimination claim from a former employee who was dismissed after refusing to sign a confidentiality agreement. The case involved designer Anna Gray, who had access to some of Mulberry’s designs ahead of their launch to market. She was dismissed after she refused to sign a confidentiality agreement. Mulberry believed that by refusing to sign, she intended to copy some of its products.…

The High Court has declared that an 86-year-old woman’s will was valid even though she suffered from dementia at the time she made it. The case involved a family dispute between two brothers and two sisters. Their mother had died in 2015, aged 86. She had made a will in 2010 leaving her house to one of the brothers. However, she then made a second will in 2011 declaring that…

The Employment Tribunal has ruled that an employee was unfairly dismissed after her company diluted her job share arrangement and created new roles that were only available to full-time workers. The case involved an employee of Capita Customer Management Limited named Mrs J McBride. She worked as head of quality and compliance before taking maternity leave in April 2015. She returned to work two years later and resumed her duties,…

A Royal Mail worker was a victim of racial discrimination even though the comments made towards him were not specifically about his own religion. That was the ruling of the Employment Tribunal at a recent hearing involving Mr Shunmugaraja, who was a manager at the Royal Mail Cardiff depot. He described himself as a Hindu of British-Indian origin. One of his workers, Mr Brown, refused to complete various tasks, and…