Business Law

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…

CARTMELL’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…

The 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…

“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…

By 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…

by 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…

by Joanne Stronach Head of Employment & HR An NHS director who was suspended after he made controversial comments based on his religious beliefs has failed with his discrimination claim. Richard Page was a non-executive director of an NHS and social care trust, and held a position as a lay magistrate in the family court. He was a practising Christian and had strong views against same-sex couples being suitable adoptive parents.…

by Joanne Stronach Head of Employment & HR A security officer at Heathrow airport was unable to hold his employers liable for a racially offensive image he was subjected to on his colleague’s social media account. Mr O Forbes said he suffered harassment, victimisation and discrimination after fellow security officer Deborah Stevens posted to her personal Facebook page a picture of a ‘golliwog’ with the caption: “Let’s see how far…

by Claire Davies Director A diabetic bank manager was discriminated against after being dismissed following an incident that saw him lock a customer in the branch. Mr B Kuppala was employed by HBOS for 14 years and worked his way up to manager of its Oxford Street Halifax branch. However, due to his diabetes, he made numerous security errors including leaving the keys to the branch in the doors and…