Financial adviser unfairly dismissed after ‘spurious allegations’
December 6th 2019A 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…
Mulberry wins confidentiality agreement dispute with employee
December 2nd 2019The 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.…
Court upholds woman’s second will despite her dementia
November 28th 2019The 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…
Employers wrong to dismiss worker who could not take on a full-time role
November 25th 2019The 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,…
Worker was discriminated against due to his ‘perceived religion’
November 18th 2019A 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…
Agricultural team has been officially ranked
November 8th 2019CARTMELL’S dedicated agriculture team has been officially ranked one of the two best in the North of England in a worldwide legal listing. Unrivalled industry insight and expertise held by the department saw them awarded the ‘top tier’ ranking in the Legal 500 alongside international firm Womble Bond Dickinson. Cartmell Shepherd directors Jonathan Carroll and Mark Jackson were named as leading individuals in their field while associate solicitor Katherine Pretswell-Walker…
Sisters lose shares in farm after father dies without making a Will
October 24th 2019The granddaughters of a farmer have lost their shares in his farm because of complications that arose when their father died without making a Will. The grandfather had died in 1992, leaving behind a wife and four children. His Will stated that the farm was to be left to his wife and two of his sons as tenants in common. The Will added that in order to receive their share…
The second edition of our Agricultural News is now live …
October 15th 2019“Welcome to the latest edition of our newsletter. We live in ‘interesting times’, and our job as lawyers is to guide you through them and to help you avoid the pitfalls along the way. Please excuse me for giving a huge congratulations to our whole team, including the unsung support staff, on having their skills and service recognised nationally – more on that below. I hope you will find that…
Staffing manager unfairly dismissed for ‘pointing out problems’
October 7th 2019By Claire Davies Director A logistics manager at a transport company was unfairly dismissed after he raised concerns about the lawfulness of the company’s staffing rotas and was then made redundant. That was the ruling of the Employment Tribunal in a case involving Mr R Mott who began working for Secure Care in July 2018. The company provided transport for NHS patients with mental health problems. Mott’s duties were to…
Pub manager was sexually harassed by ‘jovial’ co-worker
September 30th 2019by Joanne Stronach Head of Employment & HR A pub manager has won a sexual harassment claim after a senior co-worker engaged in ‘poor taste humour’. The Employment Tribunal judge said the case showed that a person’s dignity can be violated even when there is no ‘malicious intent’ on the part of the perpetrator. Ms J Prewett had worked for Greene King for 23 years. She was manager of the Big…
